Read Anywhere and on Any Device!

Subscribe to Read | $0.00

Join today and start reading your favorite books for Free!

Create Free Account

Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue

John Payne Collier

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Braggart and bully, the immortal Punch has delighted audiences for centuries. On street corners and at country fairs, crowds of English children cheer for this paragon of unrepentant wickedness, shouting encouragement and applauding his gleeful buffoonery. Punch struts and boasts, cracking jokes and heads, while the casualties mount: Judy, his shrieking wife; the interfering policeman; the hoodwinked hangman; and the devil himself, beaten to death.
Scholarly yet entertaining, this chronicle traces the origins of puppetry's famous duo from Punch's birth in Italy to his travels across medieval Europe. Equally favored by commoners and nobility, Punch's horseplay proved as popular in France, Germany, and England as in his native country. In addition to examining the puppet show's moral and cultural significance, this book takes a look at the people behind the curtain.
Thirty engaging illustrations by the great Victorian artist George Cruikshank — Dickens' illustrator of choice — complement the extensive excerpts of authentic Punch and Judy dialogue.

Language: English

Pages: 208

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Dover Publications

Release: July 28, 2006

ISBN: 0486449033

ISBN 13: 9780486449036

Punch and Judy: A Short History with the Original Dialogue

John Payne Collier

3.8/5 ( ratings)

Braggart and bully, the immortal Punch has delighted audiences for centuries. On street corners and at country fairs, crowds of English children cheer for this paragon of unrepentant wickedness, shouting encouragement and applauding his gleeful buffoonery. Punch struts and boasts, cracking jokes and heads, while the casualties mount: Judy, his shrieking wife; the interfering policeman; the hoodwinked hangman; and the devil himself, beaten to death.
Scholarly yet entertaining, this chronicle traces the origins of puppetry's famous duo from Punch's birth in Italy to his travels across medieval Europe. Equally favored by commoners and nobility, Punch's horseplay proved as popular in France, Germany, and England as in his native country. In addition to examining the puppet show's moral and cultural significance, this book takes a look at the people behind the curtain.
Thirty engaging illustrations by the great Victorian artist George Cruikshank — Dickens' illustrator of choice — complement the extensive excerpts of authentic Punch and Judy dialogue.

Language: English

Pages: 208

Format: Paperback

Publisher: Dover Publications

Release: July 28, 2006

ISBN: 0486449033

ISBN 13: 9780486449036

More books from John Payne Collier

Kynge Johan: A Play In Two Parts (1838)

2.8/5 ( ratings)

The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Punch and Judy

3.5/5 ( ratings)

Fools and Jesters: With a Reprint of Robert Armin's Nest of Ninnies

The History of English Dramatic Poetry to the Time of Shakespeare: And Annals of the Stage to the Restoration, Volume 1

The Alleyn Papers. A Collection of Original Documents Illustrative of the Life and Times of Edward Alleyn, and of the Early English Stage and Drama

Rate this book!

Write a review?