John Leech (caricaturist)
John Leech was a British caricaturist and illustrator. He was best known for his work for Punch, a humorous magazine for a broad middle-class audience, combining verbal and graphic political satire with light social comedy. Leech catered to contemporary prejudices, such as anti-Americanism and antisemitism and supported acceptable social reforms. Leech's critical yet humorous cartoons on the Crimean War helped shape public attitudes toward heroism, warfare, and Britons' role in the world.
Leech's carte de visite
Leech engraving featured in Punch
A scene from Leech's Comic History of Rome, depicting the Rape of the Sabine Women. The women are portrayed in Victorian costume being carried off from the "Corona et Ancora" ("Crown and Anchor", a common English pub sign in seafaring towns.)
Frontispiece of Dickens' A Christmas Carol, first edition 1843, illustrated by Leech
Punch, or The London Charivari was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration. Artists at Punch included John Tenniel who, from 1850, was the chief cartoon artist at the magazine for over 50 years.
John Leech, Substance and Shadow (1843), published as Cartoon, No. 1
1861: 24 August cover shows Pope Pius IX delivering weapons to the Southern Italian brigands.
Editorial meeting of Punch magazine in the late 19th century
Victorian prostitutes, Punch 1857
