MARK

See also:

• LEMON
• MARK LEMON (1809-1870)

LEMON (1809-1870)  , editor of Punch, was born in London on the 3oth of November 1809 . He had a natural talent for journalism and the stage, and, at twenty-six, retired from less congenial business to devote himself to the writing of plays . More than sixty of his melodramas, operettas and comedies were produced in London . At the same time he contributed to a variety of magazines and newspapers, and founded and edited the Field . In 1841 Lemon and Henry Mayhew conceived the idea of a humorous weekly paper to be called Punch, and when the first number was issued, in July 1841, were joint-editors and, with the printer and engraver, equal owners . The paper was for some time unsuccessful, Lemon keeping it alive out of the profits of his plays . On the sale of Punch Lemon became sole editor for the new proprietors, and it remained under his control until his death, achieving remarkable popularity and influence . Lemon was an actor of ability, a pleasing lecturer and a successful impersonator of Shakespearian characters . He also wrote a host of novelettes and lyrics, over a hundred songs, a few three-volume novels, several Christmas fairy tales and a volume of jests . He died at Crawley, Sussex, on the 23rd of May 1870 .