Tom Taylor was an English dramatist, critic, biographer, public servant, and editor of Punch magazine. Taylor had a brief academic career, holding the professorship of English literature and language at University College, London in the 1840s, after which he practised law and became a civil servant. At the same time he became a journalist, most prominently as a contributor to, and eventually editor of Punch.
Tom Taylor (photograph by Lock and Whitfield)
Caricature of Taylor by "Spy" in Vanity Fair, 1876
Poster for an 1868 revival of The Ticket-of-Leave Man
Taylor by Lewis Carroll, 1863
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
