Comments on: Stars of Political Cartooning - David Low

By: Larry Bush

Larry Bush — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 19:52:39 +0000

Jeremy,
Thank you. I will look it up.

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 11:12:07 +0000

Larry,
The article is abouy Mary Darly who wrote the first British handbook on caricature in 1762. Mark Bryant, 'The Mother of Pictorial Satire', History Today, April 2007, pp. 58-9.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 15:07:29 +0000

That sounds fascinating, Jeremy.

You have to let me read it when you finish!

Back in college, I also did some work (obviously to a MUCH lesser degree) on the treatment of Ireland in the late 19th Century popular culture - it's certainly an interesting subject.

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Sun, 12 Oct 2008 13:45:20 +0000

Larry,
Mark Bryant wrote an article on a Victorian Female cartoonist in History Today. I don't have the refernce on me but I will post it soon if you have not seen it. The grad paper sounds fascinating, I am doing a PhD on cartoon representation of the Irish in the British Empire, 1841-1901.

By: Larry Bush

Larry Bush — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 18:47:53 +0000

Jeremy:

I have a lot of respect for someone who takes the time to research valuable sources. When I get some time, I will check out those links. Mind you, I am in the middle of writing a grad paper on female cartoonists.

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 16:07:58 +0000

I see plenty of pedantry, Jeremy, and I don't think that was pedantry!

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 14:43:17 +0000

I just had a talk with a former director of the New Zealand Cartoon archive who wrote his biography for the New Zealand Dictionary of National Biography. She said that he was actually born in Dunedin and moved to Christchurch as a young child. He first published a cartoon at the age of 11 in the English periodical 'Big Budget'. Here are some useful links:

Dictionary of NZ biography
http://www.dnzb.govt.nz/dnzb/
NZ Cartoon archive
http://www.cartoons.org.nz/
And there are some more images at the NZ national library (search for David Low)
http://timeframes.natlib.govt.nz

Excuse the exessive pedantry

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:51:07 +0000

Here is a link to an article from a 1984 article in 'History Today' about Colonel Blimp.
http://www.powell-pressburger.org/Reviews/43_Blimp/Blimp18.html

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 13:46:50 +0000

Yes I have read it thanks, he also wrote another one: Low, David, Ye Madde Designer, London, 1935. I used in my MA to help in creating a methodology for reading historical cartoons.

By: Larry Bush

Larry Bush — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:43:22 +0000

Jeremy: Thank you. Your research is appreciated. I do not have an OED. My source is Merriam-Webster. Have you read "Low's Autobiography?" Intereseting volume. It can be found used on Abebooks.com.

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:09:43 +0000

Oops, make that 1934.

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 11:09:02 +0000

Larry. According to the Oxford English Dictionary The term was first used in the Evening Standard on May 28th 1834. It also cites the Wigan Pier reference as 1937. Anyway I believe we are drifting into the realms of pedantry We can both agree that this shows how much influence David Low had on the British public.

By: Larry Bush

Larry Bush — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:37:49 +0000

Jeremy, for a term to be considered for the dctionary, it has to have a definition. It is interesting that "Colonel Blimp" attained a definition so quickly. It shows that David Low had a very narrow usage for his character, and used him in a way that the public understood his purpose. Therefore, to call someone a "Colonel Blimp," was to characterize him in a way that was understood by most others (at least at the time). Mirriam-Webster probably cites Orwell's "Wigan Pier" and must use the publication date. "Wigan Pier" probably secured the public definition of "Colonel Blimp."

By: Jeremy Cresswell

Jeremy Cresswell — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 10:05:46 +0000

Definitely the best political cartoonst of the 20th century (I'm not just saying that because I am a New Zealander). Colonel Blimp was well known and named before 1937, George Orwell mentions him in 'The road to Wigan Pier', which was written in 1936 (pub. 1937).

By: Brian Cronin

Brian Cronin — Tue, 07 Oct 2008 11:42:25 +0000

I don't know if it a good thing for us or a bad thing for coverage of one of the best cartoonists ever, but if you google "David Low," this page makes the front page!!

By: Nick Evans

Nick Evans — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 17:37:17 +0000

Ajit, it is Blimp. If you look at the 2 pages below that have the Hit and Muss cartoons, they also have cartoons of Col Blimp. Same whiskers, same complexion, same way of starting each statement with "Gad, Sir!". Not sure if he'd been named by 1936, but it's the same character.

By: Larry Bush

Larry Bush — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 00:38:58 +0000

My dictionary shows Low's character, "Colonel Blimp" as a unique term (coined in 1937) meaning a conservative "reactionary. " Indeed, Low was a very important cartoonist. In addition "Low's Autobiography is an excellent book.

By: Michael

Michael — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 17:14:38 +0000

Those bastards! They locked up Tintin! And Tintin's dog!

By: Ajit

Ajit — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:54:35 +0000

Isn't that Colonel Blimp in the Union Jack towel in Difficult Days For Low?

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 05 Oct 2008 16:40:56 +0000

Yeah, one of my favorite ever artists. One of my favorite cartoons of his is after Mussolini bombed Abyssinia, two panels contrasting the "Barbarism" of the natives with "Civilisation", the bombed-out landscape with a plane flying away.

Brian, are you going to be covering Boris Yefimov, the famous Russian cartoonist who died this week?