Restoring the Lost Sense

"The Incantation": an illustration from an 1890 issue of Punch magazine.

We think he is only half joking: an illustration from an 1855 issue of Punch magazine.

We dug up a quotation to help explain the illustration (from Punch, 1842):

"Many scholars do not use the term 'doll' for the ritual figures used by adult women, due to a belief that this association with children's toys trivializes the ritual figures." —Philip M. Peek, African Folklore: An Encyclopedia

"The Demon Alps": an illustration from an 1890 issue of Punch magazine.

An illustration from a 1901 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine.  The headline reads: "Insight."

Here's a Darwinian ancestor from Punch, 1887.

But did you know that we demonstrate how you can trace your own ancestry to this creature in our book Heirs to the Queen of Hearts?

An illustration from an 1887 issue of Puck magazine.

A maledicta machine: an illustration from a 1900 issue of Punch magazine.

An illustration by Raphael Kirchner from a 1916 issue of Puck magazine.

An illustration from a 1906 issue of Puck magazine.

Note the astonishing typographic art in this mangled scan from Google Books.  The scanner's fingers have been transformed into textual kaleidoscopes.  The page in question is from Cornhill magazine, 1865.

We're delighted to present to you "The Sum of Human Knowledge," from a 1917 issue of Puck magazine.  What more could we add?

An illustration from an 1859 issue of Punch magazine.

This illustration from Cornhill (1880) isn't especially remarkable except for the fact that it depicts one of those decisive moments in which everything is changed.  (Frederic Tuten is a master at handling such turning points; see his Self Portraits: Fictions.)

An illustration from an 1856 issue of Punch magazine.

John Leech sketched this for a tale about a clown who had to crack jokes in a circus while his wife was in her dying agonies after fatally missing her footing on a leap from a standing position on horseback; the rip in the hoop is meant to suggest the initial letter I of the story.  From Cornhill magazine, 1864.

An illustration from a 1904 issue of Saturday Evening Post magazine.  The caption reads: "We both stared thoughtfully at the hat-rack."

An illustration from an 1864 issue of Punch magazine.  The caption reads: "Design for 'a monument embracing a bronze statue.'"

Goldilocks retired as a nanny, don't you know?  Nursemaiding a bear with a turkey leg, from Punch, 1853.