CHAPTER I

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_PUNCH'S_ BIRTH AND PARENTAGE.

The Mystery of His Birth--Previous Unsuccessful Attempts at Solution--Proposal for a "London Charivari"--Ebenezer Landells and His Notion--Joseph Last Consults with Henry Mayhew--Whose Imagination is Fired--Staff Formed--Prospectus--_Punch_ is Born and Christened--The First Number 10

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