New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1892-07-17
&" G.. r."
A FAMOUS PUNCH ARTIST.
THE LIFE AND LETTERS OF CHARLES SAMUEL
KEENE nv George Tones Layard. illustrated
man Is harmless


f,I vet neither can Il be considered commonplace.
The artist In black and white who for thirty years
stood almost II not quite ut the head OF MS pro-
f.ssiOn In England, was a man OF many pccunarI-
ties, and hi, habits and hobbies furnish ample material
for Interesting description. lie was In the hrst
place singulaly modest man. and all his life shrank
from conspcuousness to such extent that he missed
the recognition and the rewards which Ills talent
entitled him TO- Every one familiar with " Punch'
must also be familiar with the signature &c k'
which appeared for generation at the corner OF
so many humorous Sketches. But he held himself
80 aloof from society generally that thousands who
knew DOYLE and Leech. Tcnpicl and Du Maurlcr,
remained even to the last ignorant Of the Identity OF
&C r. Keenc was scotchman. and fun Of
Scottish characteristics. No doubt OF the reasons
for his remaining comparatively unknown was that
he never married vito would have taken him
ont OF his scclusion, whereas cellbacy only fstcred
his old bachelor habits and made him shrink deeper
into his she'll
Not tie least remarkable fact IN his career is the
practical lack OF all artistic training. Ills gift
born with him. ard without instruction at very
early age he began u draw In manner which sur
prsed veteran artists. Whether he Is strictly en-.
Titled to the designation OF a humorist Is, as Will
presently appear, not 50 obvious as 1t appears on
tho surface There are his Punch Illustrations 10
demonstrate the reality OF his humor II may naturally
be argued but the statements OF his blogropher
put very curious face the matter. For 1t APP
pears that keene had intimate friend named
Crawhall. who during the whole Of tic punch
period IN the habit OF supplying the artist with
albums filed with humorous sketches madc BY him,
self, and that keene obtained subjects from these
albums constantly lie, as Mr. Layard puts It.
"intcrpreted7 Crawhali's sketches In his own waJ
and sometimes the editor OF Punch re-lntcrprctcd
them much to Keencs Dissatisfaction. Mr. La, ard
gives In an appendix the uucs OF several hundreds
Of Illustrations which had this origin aad II 10 evil
dent tnal whatever humor was In thcse must be
a,cribed to Crawhall aud not TO Kcene.
The FUNNIEST episode In Kecnes career. however.
was the case in which tho Joke Of one Of his pc
lures proved faT beyond the Apprehension u
hnchs7 readers that letters to The Office from
all parts Of the world expressing pcrpleSAy. cHnspera
ton, protest ard complaint. NJ. Ayard tells the
story at iength with a view u ihe vlnd cation Il
Keene. but the American reader VIII prhaTe lhink
that the facts are not very natteying 10 tho pcnsp
ca4ty Of the bcvildcred Punch subscribers; While
Mt the same tme thcy slow tint kconcs fun on his
occasion was sadly diluted VI tie Iowes Of his
brain the fine etching given 10 tls cook leave no
doubt. II a part VI his pccuiaat cs. however
that he set no Noro upon los skill In THIS direction
ard perhaps because Of this Indifference that the
value Of HE work was recognized by Frsch artists
long before his oountymen perceived It's Impor
lance. But II must be sa;d that H. driving always
suffered greatly In translation 10 the pr->e Alock 1t
was characterized, ns IL came from his hand. hy
extreme deIlcncy and nnlsh. yet az II appaed In
Punch It vas APP TO look rough and rather
coarse. The Simple fact Is that be was the despair
OF the enggavCrS. who were unable % give his work
the tones and shades which he had put Into IT,
lie seldom did the large cartoons, mainly because
they were chiefly political and kecnc did not for
pohucs-at least the politics Of Punch n Its later
days. lie used 10 say that all the rest OF the stan
we're RAIDS and that he WAS Tory. This was
true, and a fine old orustcd Tory he was. too. The
Torysm In his blood, and not matter OF priil-
clplcs and convictions. lie loved antiquity for its
own sake lie preferred the society Of Old In tdoncd
people. lie liked old books best. one OF his init
mates was Edward Fitzgerald, the scholarly author
OF the translation OF omar Khayyam. and fitzgerald
could not 10 induced N open modern book. keene
had st:ange tastes. n will be seen from the fact
that he took up the Study OF bagpipes quite en!hnsy
astlcally and attained proficiency the instrument
But he was an eager collector OF all manner Of must
cal instruments and singer Of no mean merit Naturally
be cared only for old mnslc. such as the catches,
rounds glecs and medr gals OF the sixteenth seven
tenth and eighteenth centuries. one Of hiS hobbies
was the collection OF pnlaeoltible remains. lie cond
enthuso over flint arrowheads and spears ancient
| aucrns and above oil, antique tobacco pipes.
| A curious kind OF dwarf pipes often found In
making excavations about London or In the bed Of
| IN. Tbames were his favoftos and OF them he
ob,oined n plentiful supply through his friends. He
| used TO smoke them himself, and he preserved the
nicotine soaked plug OF tobacco at the bottom OF wv
| bowls, and when he thought he deserved treat fo
some especially good bit Of WORK he would take out and
| smoke one Of these "dotles' ms he called them
Keene given In the use OF tobacco alonn
| NJ one could be temperate In eating and drinking
IN one gnstronomical point he reseinbed Emerson
| no liked fruit pie for breakfast. For
many years he worked late In his studio md
always cooked his dinner on gas stove no haf
| contrived for the purpose. The dinner TOO was In
vaIiably the same namely n beef stew with pot OF
lam for Dessert Like Dickens he was grcas pcdes-
trian and thought nothing Of walking twenty or thrt,
miles day, while when approaching the sixties
he believed that eight miles day was the leas
amount OF exercise nc could maintain his health upon
Ills letters are much sr. o1 nsn with his hsSSS o
books occasionally though ,nasns from Some remarks
sss % Of m. Tq ii. ss an
finally brought intense dyspepsia ana that was the
Sesnnins q the snd Ills active e. life may be s.d
two yenrs ailments Increased upon him. no could ne
longer get about Then he aas confined to his room,
A Ass severe blow to dcS which ha. not
his place He :.r .th all all his sv SHa way,
far back great surprise wa. given to the nriti.i
$4,000 But h. was always Of thrifty turn. AM
atively light. though his bopnpher says that h,
dressed somewhat c1travasantiy. Yet he was yer,
snobs among his acquaintances. lie would ncve
wear that abomnation the chimney pot hat
what is called "souch' INIT. Ono eceentricity
which seems really stupid wns his refusal ever b
carry umbrella, 20 that 10 would often get we
! through two or three times IN n day
Mr.. hynrd has spared no pains In the illustration
OF the Life, and the general get up OF the hook IA
handsome, though the sze II inconvenient This
however Is probably ncccssitnted BY the etchings
which must have suffered by reduction IN
biography may be heartily recommended as r.las1ne
| In fresh and entertaining way the Of mai
| Of artistic genius, who was also very mAnly nure
minded; honorable gentleman. and mono the les I,