Illustration by John Tenniel, from British Punch magazine, original, not a modern reproduction, pulled from the September 1, 1877. Condition: excellent -- clean, still bright page which has been humidified and flattened for best appearance and for framing; the backside is blank.
“DISPUTED EMPIRE”
+ This political cartoon was published in the iconic "Punch" magazine in London, mocking Queen Victoria's crowning in 1876 as "Empress of India". A feeble attempt to mimic the previous Imperial Mughals, the crowning and subsequent celebrations was conducted out of revenues coming from India, which was already suffering from famines. Rulers feasted for months while masses died of hunger on streets. The cartoon questions who was the actual ruler of the empire, the Queen, or Death itself in the form of famine
+ The Great Famine of 1876–1878 was a famine in India under Crown rule. It began in 1876 after an intense drought resulted in crop failure in the Deccan Plateau. It affected south and Southwestern India—the British-administered presidencies of Madras and Bombay, and the princely states of Mysore and Hyderabad—for a period of two years. In 1877, famine came to affect regions northward, including parts of the Central Provinces and the North-Western Provinces. The excess mortality in the famine has been estimated in a range whose low end is 5.6 million human fatalities, high end 9.6 million fatalities, and a careful modern demographic estimate 8.2 million fatalities. The famine is also known as the Southern India famine of 1876–1878 and the Madras famine of 1877.
KEYWORDS: Southern Indian Famine, Queen Victoria, Great Famine, Madras famine, British Raj, British Empire, Indian Empire, Indian Women, British colony, specters, ghosts, skeletons, hunger, starvation.
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WHAT IS PUNCH?
Punch, a magazine of humor and satire, ran from 1841-2002. A very British institution renowned internationally for its wit and irreverence, it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration. Punch was the world's most celebrated magazine of wit and satire. From its early years as a campaigner for social justice to its transformation into national icon, Punch played a central role in the formation of British identity -- and how the rest of the world saw the British nation. In its formative years Punch combined humors, illustration and political debate with a fresh and radical audacity. During its heyday in the late 1800s, it reflected the conservative views of the growing middle-classes and copies of it could be found in the libraries of diplomats, cabinet ministers and even royalty. In the Western world, Punch played a significant role in the development of satire. In the world of illustration, it practically revolutionized it. Over the decades as it charted the interests, concerns and frustrations of the country and today it stands as an invaluable source of cartoon art, satire, but as primary source material for historians.
Sir John Tenniel (1820 –1914) was an English illustrator, graphic humorist and political cartoonist prominent in the second half of the 19th century. Tenniel is remembered mainly as the principal political cartoonist for Punch magazine for over 50 years and for his illustrations to Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1865) and Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There (1871).