RIVAL “JARVIES” 1891 Sir John Tenniel - John Morley PUNCH CARTOON PAGE

Original 10 3/4 inch x 8 1/8 inch Single-Sided Wood Engraved Cartoon page titled THE RIVAL “JARVIES” from Punch, February 21, 1891.

John Morley (1838 – 1923) was a British Liberal statesman, writer and newspaper editor. In February 1886, he was sworn to the Privy Council and made Chief Secretary for Ireland, only to be turned out when Gladstone's government fell over Home Rule in July of the same year and Lord Salisbury became Prime Minister. After the severe defeat of the Gladstonian party at the 1886 general election, Morley divided his life between politics and letters until Gladstone's return to power at the 1892 general election, when he resumed as Chief Secretary for Ireland.
He had during the interval taken a leading part in parliament, but his tenure of the chief secretaryship of Ireland was hardly a success. The Irish gentry made things as difficult for him as possible, and the path of an avowed Home Ruler installed in office at Dublin Castle was beset with pitfalls. In the internecine disputes that agitated the Liberal party during Lord Rosebery's administration and afterwards, Morley sided with Sir William Harcourt and was the recipient and practically co-signatory of his letter resigning the Liberal leadership in December 1898.

The cartoon was wood engraved by Joseph Swain (1820 -1909) from an illustration by Sir John Tenniel (1820 - 1914), both were regulars on Punch magazine.

Punch, or The London Charivari, was a British weekly magazine of humour and satire established in 1841 by Henry Mayhew and wood-engraver Ebenezer Landells. Historically, it was most influential in the 1840s and 1850s, when it helped to coin the term "cartoon" in its modern sense as a humorous illustration.

The page is in very good condition. Reverse side blank.