"Frank Burnand ('Men of the Day. No. 236.') — by "Ape" (Carlo Pellegrini), 31 March 1883

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Sir Francis Cowley ("Frank") Burnand (1836-1917)

"Ape" (Carlo Pellegrini, 1839-1889)

8 January 1881

Chromolithograph

14 1/8 in. x 9 1/2 in. (359 mm x 42 mm) overall

Vanity Fair

Source: © National Portrait Gallery, London

NPG D43994

Signed bottom left: "Ape"

Carlo Pellegrini's caricature presents Frank Burnand as a confident and clubbable man of the world, with bushy eyebrows and an eye-catching green cravat, cigar in hand and a self-assured stance. He is in his mid-forties here, and had recently succeeded Tom Taylor as the fifth editor of Punch. [Commentary continues below.]

Described in the gallery's introductory comment as "[o]ne of the most prolific dramatic authors and burlesque writers ever known," Burnand was hugely successful in the theatre world, and wrote comic plays of various kinds, from comic operas to adaptations and pantomimes, throughout his life. Somehow he found time to write novels, "novelettes" and, as time went by, reminiscences as well. Having also been a long-time contributor to Punch, he became acting-editor during Taylor's last illness, and took over the editorship on Taylor's death in 1880.

Together with a wealth of experience, Burnand brought to his editorial role immense energy and inventiveness, including an oft-noted and apparently endless capacity for punning. Perhaps most welcome of all for Punch and its readers, under Burnand's leadership the periodical developed "a larger religious tolerance and a warmer magnanimity" (Spielmann 357).

Image and caption material by courtesy of the gallery, downloaded under the terms of the Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 Deed, with commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee. [Click on the image to enlarge it, and mouse over the text for links.]

Related Material

Punch

Bibliography

"Frank Burnand (1836-1917), Playwright and humorist; editor of Punch." National Portrait Gallery, London. Web. 8 July 2026.

Spielmann, Marion. The History of Punch. Internet Archive, from a copy in the collections of Harvard University. Web. 8 July 2026.

Created 8 July 2026