The New Student's Reference Work/Punch
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Punch or the London Charivari, an English comic journal, is a weekly magazine of wit, humor and satire in prose and verse, copiously illustrated by sketches and caricatures. It draws its materials from the highest and lowest conditions of life, and, though stern in the exposure of sham and vice, is kindly in spirit when making merry over innocent foibles. The first number appeared in 1841, and under the joint editorship of Henry Mayhew and Mark Lemon it soon became a household word as well as an acknowledged power throughout England. It has done much to purify and elevate the standard of current wit in England. Sir F. C. Burnand, its editor for 25 years, retired in 1906.