Editing John Tenniel (section)

==Early career==
Tenniel's first book illustration was for [[Samuel Carter Hall]]'s ''The Book of British Ballads'', in 1842.{{sfn |Engen |1991 |p=15}} While engaged with his first book illustrations, various contests were taking place in London, as a way in which the government could combat the growing Germanic [[Nazarene movement|Nazarenes]] style and promote a truly national English school of art. Tenniel planned to enter the 1845 House of Lords competition amongst artists to win the opportunity to design the mural decoration of the new Palace of Westminster.{{sfn |Morris |2005 |p=36}} Despite missing the deadline, he submitted a {{convert|16|ft|m|adj=on}} cartoon, ''An Allegory of Justice'', to a competition for designs for the mural decoration of the new [[Palace of Westminster#Frescoes|Palace of Westminster]]. For this he received a £200 premium and a commission to paint a fresco in the Upper Waiting Hall (or Hall of Poets) in the [[House of Lords]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

===''Punch''===
[[File:Punch on the Lambeth Conferences 1867.png|thumb|left|250px|A cartoon by Tenniel on the subject of the 1867 [[Lambeth Conference]].]]
As the influential result of his position as the chief cartoon artist for ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', Tenniel remained a witness to Britain's sweeping changes. He furthered political and social reform through satirical, often radical, and at times vitriolic images of the world. At Christmas 1850 he was invited by [[Mark Lemon]] to fill the position of joint cartoonist (with [[John Leech (caricaturist)|John Leech]]) on ''Punch'', having been selected on the strength of recent illustrations to [[Aesop]]'s ''Fables''. He contributed his first drawing in the initial letter appearing on p.&nbsp;224, vol. xix. This was entitled "Lord Jack the Giant Killer" and showed [[Lord John Russell]] assailing [[Cardinal Wiseman]].<ref name="EB1911"/>

Tenniel's first characteristic lion appeared in 1852, as did his first obituary cartoon. Gradually he took over altogether the weekly drawing of the political "big cut," which Leech was happy to cede to Tenniel in order to restrict himself to his pictures of life and character.<ref name="EB1911"/>

In 1861, Tenniel was offered Leech's position at ''Punch'', as political cartoonist, but Tenniel still maintained a sense of decorum and restraint in the heated social and political issues of the day.{{sfn |Engen |1991 |p=46}} When Leech died in 1864, Tenniel continued their work alone, rarely missing a single week.<ref name="EB1911"/>

[[File:The Irish “Vampire”.jpg|thumb|right|[[Charles Stewart Parnell]] depicted as a vampire, menacing maiden Ireland.]]His task was to follow the wilful choices of his ''Punch'' editors, who probably took their cue from ''[[The Times]]'' and would have felt the suggestions of political tensions from Parliament as well. Tenniel's work could be scathing in effect. The restlessness in the issues of working-class radicalism, labour, war, economy, and other national themes were the targets of ''Punch'', which in turn settled the nature of Tenniel's subjects. His cartoons of the 1860s popularised a portrait of the Irishman as a sub-human being, wanton in his appetites and resembling an orangutan in facial features and posture.<ref name="dav">{{Cite book |last=Davison, Neil |title=James Joyce, Ulysses, and the Construction of Jewish Identity |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1998 |location=Cambridge |page=97}}</ref> Many of Tenniel's political cartoons expressed strong hostility to [[Irish Nationalism]], with [[Fenian]]s and [[Irish National Land League|Land leagues]] depicted as monstrous, ape-like brutes, while "[[Hibernia (personification)|Hibernia]]" – the personification of Ireland – was depicted as a beautiful, helpless girl threatened by such "monsters" and turning for protection to an "elder sister" in the shape of a powerful, armoured [[Britannia]].

"An Unequal Match", his drawing published in ''Punch'' on 8 October 1881, depicted a police officer fighting a criminal with only a baton for protection, trying to put a point across to the public that policing methods needed to be changed.

When examined separately from the book illustrations he did over time, Tenniel's work at ''Punch'' alone, expressing decades of editorial viewpoints, often controversial and socially sensitive, was created to echo the voices of the British public. Tenniel drew 2,165 cartoons for ''[[Punch (magazine)|Punch]]'', a liberal and politically active publication that mirrored the Victorian public's mood for liberal social changes; thus Tenniel, in his cartoons, represented for years the conscience of the British majority.

Tenniel contributed around 2,300 cartoons, innumerable minor drawings, many double-page cartoons for ''Punch's Almanac'' and other specials, and 250 designs for ''Punch's Pocket-books''.<ref name="EB1911"/> By 1866 he could "command ten to fifteen guineas for the reworking of a single ''Punch'' cartoon as a pencil sketch," alongside his "comfortable" ''Punch'' salary "of about £800 a year".{{sfn |Simpson |1994 |p=68}}

===Alice===
[[File:Alice 05a-1116x1492.jpg|thumb|Caterpillar using a [[hookah]]. An illustration from ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'']]
Despite the thousands of political cartoons and hundreds of illustrative works attributed to him, much of Tenniel's fame stems from his illustrations for ''Alice''. Tenniel drew 92 drawings for Lewis Carroll's ''[[Alice's Adventures in Wonderland]]'' (London: Macmillan, 1865) and ''[[Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There]]'' (London: Macmillan, 1871).

Lewis Carroll originally illustrated ''Wonderland'' himself, but his artistic abilities were limited. Engraver Orlando Jewitt, who had worked for Carroll in 1859 and reviewed Carroll's drawings for ''Wonderland'', suggested that he employ a professional. Carroll was a regular reader of ''Punch'' and therefore familiar with Tenniel, who in 1865 had long talks with Carroll before illustrating the first edition of ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland''.

[[Image:Tenniel ms eng 718 6 p177.jpeg|thumb|left|Chapter 12: Alice's evidence. MS Eng 718.6 (12) Tenniel, John, Sir, 1820–1914. Studies for illustrations to ''Alice's Adventures in Wonderland'': drawings, tracings, {{Circa|1864}} from [[Houghton Library]], Harvard University]]

The first print run of 2,000 was sold in the United States, rather than England, because Tenniel objected to the print quality.<ref>Gladstone and Elwyn-Jones, 1998, pp. 253–255.</ref> A new edition was released in December 1865, carrying an 1866 date, and became an instant best-seller, increasing Tenniel's fame. His drawings for both books have become some of the most famous literary illustrations. After 1872, when the Carroll projects were finished, Tenniel largely abandoned literary illustration. Carroll did later approach Tenniel to undertake another project for him. To this Tenniel replied:
{{Blockquote|It is a curious fact that with ''Looking-Glass'' the faculty of making drawings for book illustrations departed from me, and... I have done nothing in that direction since.<ref>See Michael Hancher's essay, "Carroll and Tenniel in Collaboration", {{harv |Hancher |1985 |p=105}}</ref>}}

Tenniel's ''Alice'' illustrations were [[wood engraving|engraved]] onto blocks of deal wood by the [[Brothers Dalziel]]. These then served as masters for the [[electrotype]] copies for the actual printing of the books.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.johntenniel.com/about.php |title=About Tenniel |website=Sir John Tenniel's Alice in Wonderland |publisher=GoldmarkArt.com |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040604030121/http://www.johntenniel.com/about.php |archive-date=4 June 2004}}</ref> The original wood blocks are held by the [[Bodleian Library]] in Oxford. They are not usually on public display, but were exhibited in 2003.

The bronze [[Conservatory Water#Alice in Wonderland sculpture|Alice in Wonderland sculpture]] (1959) in [[Central Park]] in [[Manhattan]], New York City, is patterned on his illustrations.<ref name="auto8">{{Cite web |url=http://www.atlasobscura.com/places/alice-in-wonderland-statue |title=Alice in Wonderland Statue in Central Park |website=Atlas Obscura}}</ref><ref name=ray>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xKjS342df7YC&q=Waldo+Hutchins+bench+park&pg=PA17 |title=The Complete Illustrated Map and Guidebook to Central Park |first=Raymond |last=Carroll |date=20 May 2008 |publisher=Sterling Publishing Company, Inc. |isbn=9781402758331 |via=Google Books}}</ref>