3-028-458 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

The late Mr. Mark Lemon, 1870. Engraving from a photograph by Mr. H. J. Whitlock of the editor of "Punch" magazine. '...from 1841 Punch is the history of Mark Lemon...Punch would never have taken root in Whitefriars but for him. He wrote the address that opened the periodical; his hand is in a very recent number; and his suggestions, as is stated in the number issued this week, were carried out in its pages after his death. He had the whole and sole responsibility. All the engagements were of his own making; and most of them bore testimony to his instinctive knowledge of men and his power of seeing how to direct their talents. He lived on the happiest terms with the proprietors of the journal; and their friendship was not a mere business intimacy, but was based upon the sincerest regard and affection...The last time I saw him in this life was on Tuesday, the 10th of May, at his own house. He was ill, but hopeful; and he amused himself in his garden, and with the play of his pretty grandchildren...On May 23 he was released, "dying as calmly as if going to sleep" - such are the words of one who watched the end'. From "Illustrated London News", 1870.