Let us pause for a moment, then, to recall the particulars of this remarkable co-operation. Early in the ’seventies, Keene, who was often gravelled for humorous subjects on which to exercise his pencil, was by good fortune introduced to the author of Border Notes and Mixty-Maxty, and many other droll books of a like character. This gentleman, always a lover of things quaint, grotesque and jocular, had been for years in the habit of jotting down any telling incident that came in his way, illustrating it at leisure for his {136} own amusement. He was no great artist; but, like Thackeray, his inadequate pencil was so compelled and inspired by the appreciation of his subjects that he was able to set them down pictorially in a manner so naïve and at the same time so intelligent that they are a joy to the beholder. These suggestive drawings, by the time the introduction had taken place, filled several volumes.
Keene’s delight, then, may be well imagined when he was given carte blanche to cull the best of the subjects for use in Punch. He wrote:—
“I can’t tell you how strongly I have felt your rare generosity and unselfishness in letting me browse so freely in your pastures.”
And again:—
“Many thanks for the loan of the sketch-books. I enjoyed them again and again, with renewed chucklings; but what a mouth-watering larder to lay open to a ravenous joke-seeker!”
| The Cancelled “Social.” (By Charles Keene) | Suggestion by Joseph Crawhall for the Cancelled “Social” |
The Cancelled “Social.” (By Charles Keene)
