Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), 15th June 1886, Edition 1 of 1, Page 665

. _ , ™ i . ' ¦ ¦ « ^—*^^—^——^*—^~~~^^—^—^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ ^^^^^^ Km ^^ m ^^ mm ^ mmm ^ mm ^^ m ^ mm ^^^ m ^^ m ; , A PICTinPTG ^ MEN AND WOMEN PSQM ' PUNCIH . ' ' John Xieecb , -was a true humourist , if one ever lived . '—Standard . * * * Announcement of an Entirely NEW ISSUE , in Monthly Parts , \ OF JOHN LEECH'S PICTDRES OF LIFE & CHARACTER . gfrom tfye Collectionof ' U & tr . ^ unc ^ . ' In royal 4 to . size , printed on Plate Paper , price One Shilling each . R £ gtigj ^ jg § 3 ^ F all the 8 own compen const s ations itution and a -sense consolati of on Humour s gr anted is the to human most valuable natur e . out When of tjh e a very man store can I Hvivlrfill w @ u ^ SB laug ° ^ ** h at anybody or anything , , they have no more power to harm him . f ^ SgOgiSK : a and There feels is it a the comic most side acutel to most y is things the man , and best . the armed man who against sees it the the shafts most of quickl fate y . There is no philosophy like the -capacity to make inerry over one ' s own misfortunes or one ' s own foibles . Without going so far as to say that humour is an exclusively English gift , which no one who has read ' Don Quixote' would affirm , there can be ntrdoubt _ that it is a faculty more common among Englishmen and Americans than any other race . Humour is a jsort of family joke that hurts no one . No sensible person was ever wounded by a . true humourist . . John Leech was a true Humourist , if ever one lived . Week after week he familiarised us with ourselves , making us see ourselves as others see us . At the same time , he reconciled us to our foibles , just as a man gets reconciled to a snub nose or a woman to a curious lisp . He did not satirise crimes ; he only indicated little weaknesses more or lees common to us all . I It would be no exaggeration to say that a collection of his best-known drawings would enable the historian to construct a narrative and account of the Social I 4 fe , Manners , Customs , Tastes , | Pursuits No one can , and look Foibles at these of drawings the Eng now lish with Peop ou le t during perceiving the at generation a glance in how which far the they costumes wero executed of that . j period varied from the costumes with which we are familiar to-day . Yet he also discerns , with equal \ quickness , that the people portrayed are our own flesh and blood , cherishing the same ideals , running after practically the same amusements , and betraying at every turn the same national characteristics . . | It is certain that , caricaturist as he professedly was , Leech never travestied the human beings he depicted . There was , in his handling of them , just that shade of deviation from the literal truth to give the literal truth point and significance . I Johit Leech is always refined and delicate , and no English caricaturist of repute has since ventured to go back from the standard he set up and upheld . Touches of pathos , too , occasionally blend with his humour ; and we feel , in surveying his works in their entirety , that we are in the presence of a Moralist who never cants , of a Preacher who never sermonises , of a Reformer who never bores or offends . ___ % * This ^ Edition of John Lee ch ' s Pictures will he 'made as inclusive as it can be . New Electrotypes of the Original Woodblocks will be used , throughout > whilst the descriptive lines will be arranged in a new type in harmony with the improved size of the page . The collection will he completed vn about Twenty-Jive Numbers , and will consist of nearly 4 , 000 Sketches . \ ^ 8 * JPart X * is now ready price One Shilling * London : BRADBURY , AGNEW ?*< ST CO ., 8 , 9 , 10 Bouverie Street , B . C . ||

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