Rare 2 Punch Books 1925 1927
The item(s) offered for auction below arrive from: Store Closures, Insurance Claims, Misguided Cargo, Post Office Undeliverable Packages or Unclaimed Merchandise. In many cases we do not know the origin of these goods. When we know the origin of the product, we describe it in the auction listing.
2 Rare Punch Books 1925 1927
Hardcover books approx 11 x 9 inches
About over 500 pages
Published at the office 10 Bouverie Street LONDON
The Whitefriars Press
Gold-tone insignia of Punch on the cover
Condition good and intact
2 books weigh over 6 Pounds
Many hundreds of illustrations inside
Shipped with UPS courier
History of "PUNCH"
The Punch and Judy show has roots in the 16th-century Italian commedia dell'arte. The figure of Punch derives from the Neapolitan stock character of Pulcinella, which was anglicized to Punchinello.[1] He is a manifestation of the Lord of Misrule and Trickster figures of deep-rooted mythologies. Punch's wife was originally called "Joan."
The figure who later became Mr. Punch made his first recorded appearance in England on 9 May 1662, which is traditionally reckoned as Punch's UK birthday.[2]The diarist Samuel Pepys observed a marionette show featuring an early version of the Punch character in Covent Garden in London. It was performed by an Italianpuppet showman, Pietro Gimonde, a.k.a. "Signor Bologna." Pepys described the event in his diary as "an Italian puppet play, that is within the rails there, which is very pretty."
In the British Punch and Judy show, Punch wears a brightly coloured jester's motley and sugarloaf hat with a tassel. He is a hunchback whose hooked nose almost meets his curved, jutting chin. He carries a stick (called a slapstick) as large as himself, which he freely uses upon most of the other characters in the show. He speaks in a distinctive squawking voice, produced by a contrivance known as a swazzle or swatchel which the professor holds in his mouth, transmitting his gleeful cackle. This gives Punch a vocal quality as though he were speaking through a kazoo. So important is Punch's signature sound that it is a matter of some controversy within Punch and Judy circles as to whether a "non-swazzled" show can be considered a true Punch and Judy Show. Other characters do not use the swazzle, so the Punchman has to switch back and forth while still holding the device in his mouth.
Punch was extremely popular in Paris, and, by the end of the 18th century, he was also playing in Britain's American colonies, where even George Washington bought tickets for a show.
