The first edition was published on July 17, 1841. Its founders, wood engraver Ebenezer Landells and writer Henry Mayhew, got the idea from a satirical French paper, Charivari (the name means “to attack deviants and outsiders”) and the first issue was subtitled The London Charivari. The cover for this edition features Mr Punch in his booth entertaining a crowd of onlookers.

Landells wanted his magazine, which was set up with £25, to be less bitter than other British comic publications and of a higher literary standard.

The future soon looked pretty bleak. The circulation was low, money ran short and it began to look as if Mark Lemon, the magazine’s first editor, would have the same success with Punch as he did with his previous enterprise, a pub which went bankrupt.

But then he had the bright idea of publishing a big annual issue called the Almanack, which sold an amazing 90,000 copies and really put Punch on the map. However, it continued to struggle for survival until it was taken over by the printing firm of Bradbury and Evans (which became Bradbury and Agnew in 1872).

The magazine then entered its golden age and enjoyed great success for decades. So what was the secret of its success? More than anything, it was its ability to tune into the wavelength of an age. Even in the Victorian era, Punch did not stand still. In its early days, during the years of the Chartists (people who wanted to give ordinary men a say in how the nation was run), and the unrest that swept through Europe in 1848, it was radical.

The best example of this came in December 1843, when political poet Thomas Hood’s Song Of The Shirt was published. Drawing attention to the terrible conditions of some workers in London, it helped change people’s minds about hard labour. But by the 1860s the magazine had become milder, less inclined to attack the Establishment or support the underdog, and this too was in tune with the rising middle class and the feeling that the British Empire had come to stay.

Many talented artists worked on Punch. The drawings of Leech, Keene, du Maurier and Tenniel (who also illustrated Alice In Wonderland) still represent the most authentic and memorable picture of Victorian England that we have left. John Tenniel was a regular cartoonist in the late 19th century, contributing a full-page political cartoon for almost 50 years. Punch was responsible for the modern use of the word “cartoon” to refer to a comic drawing. 

Some very distinguished writers also contributed, including John Betjeman, AA Milne and PG Wodehouse.

The main staff meeting of the week took place over dinner, complete with expensive wine and cigars. These were first held in a pub on London’s Ludgate Hill but when Punch moved to a new building in 1865, the magazine was given its own banqueting hall. This tradition lasted for nearly 150 years. The table where the meeting took place is now known as “the Punch table”, which appeared shortly after the magazine’s launch. Since the early days the mostly very famous staff have carved their initials on the table. Only six non-staff have been invited to do the same, including Prince Charles and Prince Philip.

Margaret Thatcher was the first ever woman to attend a Punch Lunch. In 1975, when she was elected leader of the Conservative Party, she broke the male-only tradition that had stood for more than 130 years.

It is forgotten that there were several other humorous magazines in the 19th century that were similar in style to Punch – among them Fun and Judy. But Punch was the only one that continued to rise in popularity for another 100 years, becoming a national institution.

Each time Punch has moved with the times – when Malcolm Muggeridge introduced a sharper, more acid note; when Bernard Hollowood finally abandoned the old cover; when William Davis engineered a full-scale parody of Playboy – critics thought: “This isn’t how a national institution should behave.”

The magazine was bought from Bradbury and Agnew in 1969 by United Newspapers.

A promotional booklet produced in 1974 was full of optimism but by the late-1980s circulation had dropped to a very low level and three editors in three years failed to stop the decline. Punch was eventually closed by United in 1992 and it looked like the end for a title that had become loved around the world.

Help came when Harrods owner, Mohamed Al Fayed, relaunched the magazine with a showbiz party at the famous store in September 1996. The magazine soon positioned itself as a thorn in the side of the Establishment, with a series of disrespectful exposés. These included an intimate look at the life of media tycoon Rupert Murdoch, by his butler, and
The Mandelson Files, an investigation into Peter Mandelson, who was then the most feared member of the New Labour government.

Sadly, the magazine failed to regain its place in the hearts of the British public and closed again in 2002, leaving a legacy of more than 160 years of humour and satire.