Historical Archive 1841–1992
About Punch
From 1841 to 1992 Punch was the world’s most celebrated magazine of humourand satire – imitated, parodied and pirated from America to India and Japan.
From its early years as a campaigner for social justice (though aimed firmly atthe burgeoning middle class) to its transformation in the mid-19th century into
national icon and pillar of the Establishment, Punch played a central role in theformation of British identity – and how the rest of the world saw the British.

About Punch Historical Archive 1841–1992
This fully searchable online archive is an unrivalled resource for researching andteaching 19th and 20th century political and social history, containing approximately
200,000 pages from all issues of Punch between 1841–1992, including Almanacks andother special numbers, as well as prefaces, epilogues, indexes and other specially
produced material from the bound volumes. The intuitive online platform offers
researchers, students and the general user multiple search paths into exploring c. 7,900
issues. Images originally published in full colour appear in full colour in the archive.
To register for a trial or request pricing please email emea.galereply@cengage.com

Punch Historical Archive, 1841–1992 is part of the Gale NewsVault
programme. Gale NewsVault delivers the definitive crosssearching experience for exploring Gale’s range of historicalnewspaper collections, including the Times Digital Archive, Picture Post and The Listener.
Providing access to over 11 million digitised facsimile pages, and more than 400 years ofcontent, Gale NewsVault provides an unparalleled window to the past.
gale.cengage.co.uk/newsvault

gale.cengage.co.uk/punch

The Cartoons of Punch
Punch’s renowned full-page political cartoons – the Big Cuts – by legendary artists like Tenniel, Sambourne, Partridge, E H Shepard
and Illingworth had the power to sway governments and influence political elites.
Punch’s ‘social’ cartoons captured the vast shifts inlife over the 19th and 20th centuries, recording theimpact of rapid technological and social change indrawings by artists like Leech and du Maurier in the
19th century and H M Bateman and Searle in the 20th.
Punch’s visual iconography became cultural reference
points, establishing symbols like John Bull, Britannia
and the British Lion firmly in the public imagination.

The Writing of Punch
Punch published some of the finest comic writers in the English language from W M
Thackeray to P G Wodehouse, E M Delafield and Alan Coren. Gale, part of Cengage
Learning is pleased to be collaborating with Liverpool John Moores University on thetranscription of the Punch contributor ledgers from 1843–1919. With contributions
to the magazine unattributed to 1902, information from the ledgers will beincorporated into the Punch Historical Archive, allowing users to identify contributors
and better understand the nature of the magazine and the Victorian periodical press.

Key Research Themes
World War One and World War Two:
Whether reflecting British political andsocial attitudes on the Home Front orcommenting on international affairs,
the pages of Punch are key sources fordepictions of World War One and WorldWar Two. Historian Asa Briggs wrote that
the World War Two numbers of Punch‘recapture the mood of the period perhaps
more evocatively than any other source’.

Wars and Conflicts: Punch commented
on conflicts from the Crimean War to theSuez Crisis, the Arab-Israeli conflict and the Cold War, looking in the20th century at the roles of new international organisations like theLeague of Nations and the United Nations.

Colonialism, Imperialism and End of Empire: From Ireland
to India, the Scramble for Africa and the Palestine Mandate, Punch
commented on the zenith and decline of the British Empire.

Impact of New Technology andModernity: Reactions to urbanisationand industrialisation, new formsof transportation, technology andcommunication, scientific theories
of evolution and the atomic age allappeared in the pages of Punch.

Public Health,Conservation andEnvironmentalism:
The rapid growth ofthe city and the spreadof the railways led torising concerns in Punch
over pollution, publichealth and protectingfragile landscapes in
the 19th century, to theenvironmentalism of the1960s and 1970s.

Social Change: Punch was anacute observer of a changing
society documenting family life,Thirties unemployment, the WelfareState, postwar immigration, shifts infashion, leisure, and entertainment.

Role of Women: Researchers
will find a wealth of material
on women’s equality, the ‘New
Woman’, suffragettes, women in
the workplace, and women during
two world wars.

To register for a trial or request pricing please email emea.galereply@cengage.com

gale.cengage.co.uk/punchISBN 9780418282571