ABSTRACT
When we think o f John Bull, we pick out from the jumble o f popular and national mythologies a pot-bellied man in immaculate boots, carrying sometimes a riding-crop, sometimes a club, neither o f which detracts in the slightest from his peaceable air. This simple soul, this easy-going, Pickwickian character, sure o f his tranquil strength, is in reality a Victorian John Bull; its diffusion in the second half o f the nineteenth century was ensured by Punch maga zine, which appeared for the first time in 1 8 4 1 ; and it significantly altered those earlier models which are the subject o f this chapter.
