Drawn from imagination
IN 1901, a public dinner was held to mark Sir John Tenniel’s retirement from Punch after half a century. Tributes flowed from the distinguished company of politicians, writers and artists, but when the guest of honour rose to speak, he dried. ‘It’s no use,’ he confessed, ‘I can’t go on.’
The first illustrator to be honoured with a knighthood—in 1893 —Tenniel was a reluctant celebrity. Upright, dapper, always charmingly polite and profoundly
