Phil May: Sketches from "Punch."
Phil May
Sketches from
“PUNCH.”
Phil May
Sketches from
“PUNCH.”
LONDON:
“Punch” Office, 10, Bouverie Street, E.C.
Bradbury, Agnew & Co., Ltd., Printers, London and Tonbridge.
Phil May.
Born, April 22, 1864. Died, August 5, 1903.
If the death of PHIL MAY is a loss that the world of art may not soon retrieve, to his wide circle of friends it is an irreparable hurt. He had a nature made to love; so great a charm of gentleness and unaffected modesty went with his splendid gifts. The hard times of early life, that helped him in his art, as they helped another Filippo, to “learn the look of things,” left their trace, too, in the almost reckless generosity he showed for the needs of others. Less careful for himself, he suffered as a man must suffer who has a heart too quickly responsive to the claims of good fellowship always to distinguish in others between friendship and mere camaraderie. Among his colleagues at the Table he inspired a personal affection not less frank and sincere than their admiration, never even faintly tinged with envy, for the genius from which they caught a reflected pride. Their only jealousy was of the happy possessor of the latest of those delightfully spontaneous sketches which he used to make on the backs of the Punch Dinner menus. These gifts are treasured still more dearly now, along with many unrecorded memories that linger about his vacant place.
OWEN SEAMAN.
From “PUNCH,” August 12th, 1903.
PAGE. FROM “PUNCH.”
=“And she ought to know!”= 2 October 14th, 1893.
=Self-Criticism= 3 April 4th, 1896.
=The Finishing Touch= 4 August 18th, 1894.
=Q. E. D.= 5 September 1st, 1894.
=The Plunger= 6 December 15th, 1894.
=An Important ’Junction= 7 September 22nd, 1894.
=Wasted Efforts= 8 May 25th, 1895.
=A Sunday Dinner= 9 July 27th, 1895.
=Blasé= 10 July 7th, 1894.
=Much Ado= 11 September 14th, 1895.
=A Soft Answer= 12 February 23rd, 1895.
=Not what he meant= 13 X’mas Number, 1894.
=Pickings from Picardy= 14 September 7th, 1895.
=Botany; or, a Day in the Country= 15 April 6th, 1895.
=A Model= 16 December 14th, 1895.
=A Lecture in Store= 17 February 16th, 1895.
=A Sketch from Life= 18 September 21st, 1895.
=A Gourmand= 19 June 1st, 1895.
=So that doesn’t count= 20 July 13th, 1895.
=A Special Pleader= 21 April 20th, 1895.
=A Natural Query= 22 March 21st, 1896.
=Inappropriate= 23 January 25th, 1896.
=A Sketch near Piccadilly= 24 October 10th, 1896.
=A Threat misplaced= 25 April 11th, 1896.
=Obvious= 26 July 25th, 1896.
=An Awkward Admission= 27 July 11th, 1896.
=A Homely Test= 28 July 24th, 1897.
=At a Literary and Artistic Banquet= 29 May 8th, 1897.
=Notes of Travel= 30 October 23rd, 1897.
=Sending-in-Day at the R.A.= 31 April 10th, 1897.
=From Dottyville= 32 August 21st, 1897.
=Another from Dottyville= 33 July 2nd, 1898.
=Jam satis= 34 March 14th, 1900.
=Petticoat Lane= 35 Almanack, 1898.
=Feline Impressions= 36 May 21st, 1898.
=An Awakening= 37 May 7th, 1898.
=Poor Letter H= 38 February 26th, 1898.
=Disadvantages of Performing at a Country House in the Wasp Season= 39 January 29th, 1898.
=Art in Whitechapel= 40 May 1st, 1897.
=The National Sporting Club, London= 41 Almanack, 1898.
=Flippancy= 42 September 3rd, 1898.
=A Rejoinder= 43 April 2nd, 1898.
=An Injured Innocent= 44 June 18th, 1898.
=Notes from Mr. Punch’s Foreign Sketch-book= 45 December 3rd, 1898.
=Critics from the Quartier Latin= 46 January 25th, 1899.
=’Arry in ’Olland= 47 September 6th, 1899.
=Mistrust= 48 November 8th, 1899.
=An Unexpected Reply= 49 March 8th, 1899.
=“The Grey Mare”= 50 February 15th, 1899.
=At a Garden Party= 51 August 9th, 1899.
=The Very Latest Discovery= 52 March 29th, 1899.
=Christmas comes but once a year= 53 December 27th, 1899.
=Malapropos= 54 June 7th, 1899.
=Overheard at a Country Fair= 55 September 27th, 1899.
=Convincing= 56 September 13th, 1899.
=Overheard on the Steps of the Army and Navy Stores= 57 April 19th, 1899.
=Eureka!= 58 January 10th, 1900.
=A Soliloquy= 59 January 3rd, 1900.
=A Breezy Customer= 60 September 5th, 1900.
=A Misunderstanding= 61 November 21st, 1900.
=Graphic= 62 March 7th, 1900.
=Hard Lines= 63 June 6th, 1900.
=From Erin’s Isle= 64 April 25th, 1900.
=Mafeking Night= 65 May 30th, 1900.
=Another way of putting it= 66 December 4th, 1901.
=An Artless Query= 67 December 25th, 1901.
=Not a Water Drinker= 68 January 23rd, 1901.
=A Connoisseur= 69 January 9th, 1901.
=On the Village Green= 70 September 18th, 1901.
=“An Englishman’s House,” &c.= 71 October 23rd, 1901.
=Self-satisfied= 72 February 27th, 1901.
=Another Mr. Weller= 73 February 13th, 1901.
=Another from Ireland= 74 September 4th, 1901.
=Vanitas= 75 November 27th, 1901.
=Brothers in Art= 76 February 26th, 1902.
=The New Play= 77 November 19th, 1902.
=Quite Another Thing= 78 December 10th, 1902.
=A Big Order= 79 March 19th, 1902.
=Indirect Oration= 80 April 9th, 1902.
=Beginning Early= 81 February 12th, 1902.
=Candid= 82 March 26th, 1902.
=A Different View= 83 April 23rd, 1902.
=Paradoxical= 84 August 20th, 1902.
=Dottyville again= 85 February 19th, 1902.
=Awkward= 86 January 29th, 1902.
=An Unpopular Idol= 87 December 24th, 1902.
=An Empty Embrace= 88 September 17th, 1902.
=Overheard outside a famous Restaurant= 89 February 5th, 1902.
=Unexpected Effect= 90 November 12th, 1902.
=Reckoning him up= 91 January 8th, 1902.
=Shakespeare Illustrated (Hamlet, Act III., Sc. 1)= 92 May 6th, 1903.
=Shakespeare Illustrated (Hamlet, Act I., Sc. 5)= 93 October 1st, 1902.
=Decisive= 94 May 27th, 1903.
=Amenities of the Profession= 95 May 13th, 1903.
=Brown’s Country House--No. 1= 96 January 14th, 1903.
=Brown’s Country House--No. 2= 97 January 21st, 1903.
=The New Act again!= 98 February 18th, 1903.
=!!!!= 99 April 8th, 1903.
=Ready for the Fray= 100 January 7th, 1903.
=An Echo from Broadway= 101 January 28th, 1903.
=Smart= 102 February 25th, 1903.
=Quite of her Opinion= 103 July 8th, 1903.
=The Genial Season= 104 December 22nd, 1894.
=So likely!= 105 March 30th, 1895.
=A Euphemism= 106 October 12th, 1895.
=Rather Difficult for him= 107 November 14th, 1900.
=The Ruling Passion= 108 August 7th, 1901.
=Tit for Tat= 109 April 15th, 1903.
=All the Difference= 110 November 6th, 1901.
=Strong Language= 111 July 29th, 1903.
=Shakespeare Illustrated (_King John_, Act III., Sc. 4)= 112 July 22nd, 1903.
Sketches by Phil May
From “PUNCH.”
[Illustration: “=AND SHE OUGHT TO KNOW!=”
“THAT’S SUPPOSED TO BE A PORTOGRAPH OF LADY SOLSBURY BUT, BLESS YER, IT AIN’T LIKE HER A BIT IN PRIVATE!”
[First contribution to “Punch.“]
[Illustration: =”A SOFT ANSWER,” &c.=
Importunate Street Urchin (for the tenth time). “GI’ US A COPPER, SIR! GI’ US A COPPER!”
Testy Individual (losing patience). “OH, GO TO“--(substitutes a milder form)--“BLAZES!”
Street Urchin. “SURE THIN AN’ I WOULD IN THIS BASTLY COULD WEATHER, IF I WAS ONLY CERTAIN O’ COMIN’ BACK AGAIN!”
[Individual’s testiness overcome and Urchin rewarded.]