Notable authors who contributed at one time or another included John Betjeman, A. A. Milne, Anthony Powell, W. C. Sellar and R. J. Yeatman, Thackeray; John Tenniel was a regular political cartoonist in the late 19th century. Tom Taylor served as editor for a period starting in 1874.

Circulation slowly declined over the years, until the magazine was forced to close in 1992 after 150 years. However, in early 1996, the controversial businessman Mohammed Al-Fayed bought the rights to the name, and it was re-launched later that year. The magazine never became profitable in its new incarnation, and at the end of May 2002, it was announced that Punch would once more cease publication. Press reports at the time quoted a total loss to its owner of some 16 million pounds over the six years of publication, with only 6,000 subscribers at the end.

It had also an American spinoff, called Punchinello.

Many issues of Punch from the World War I era are available at Project Gutenberg.

Punch gave several phrases to the English language, not least curate's egg.

Editors of Punch:

Mark Lemon (1841-1870)

Charles William Shirley Brooks (1870-1874)

Tom Taylor (1874-1880)

Sir Francis Burnand (1880-1906)

Sir Owen Seaman (1906-1932)

E.V. Knox (1932-1949)

Kenneth Bird (1949-1952)

Malcolm Muggeridge (1953-1957)

Bernard Hollowood (1958-1968)

William Davis (1969-1977)

Alan Coren (1978-1987)

David Taylor (1988)

David Thomas (1989-)

See also

• cartoon
• comic strip
• humour
• R. C. Lehmann
• John Leech

External links

• Punch cartoon and (physical) back-issue archive
• Project Gutenberg Punch edition
• Online archive of 1840-1860 Punch cartoons by John Leech