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Barjorjee Nowrosjee, Cartoons from the Hindi Punch for 1910: Being the Political and Social History of the country during the year told in humorous cartoons & C., Bombay: Barjorjee Nowrosjee at the "Hindi Punch" office, Bombay Samachar Press, Frere Road, Fort, 1910

vi + 36 unpaginated pages of advertisements in English and Gujarati in the beginning + 116 pages including mostly single full page cartoon till page no.100 with the caption in English, pages 5-6, 11-12, 35-36, 45-46, 47-48, 71-72, 79-80, 95-96, 99-100 have double spread cartoons including captions in English + pages 101-116 are Gujarati translation of the English captions + 34 unpaginated pages of advertisements in English and Gujarati at the end; rebound in contemporary half leather binding with gilt text at the spine retaining the original cover page inside.
11.25 x 8.75 x 0.75 in (28.5 x 22.5 x 2.2 cm)

The Parsi or The Hindi Punch (1878-1930) by Barjorjee Nowrosjee of Bombay was one of the longest-running English language comic and cartoon publications produced by an Indian. It was published by Barjorjee Nowrosjee at the Hindi Punch office, located at the Bombay Samachar Press on Frere Road in Fort, Mumbai (formerly Bombay). The Bombay Samachar Press was established in 1822 and is one of the oldest continuously published newspapers in Asia.

When the Indian National Congress was created in 1885, Barjorjee Nowrosjee was a supporter. The Hindi Punch's favourite personification of India was Panchoba, an Indian counterpart of Mr Punch, and its graphic style frequently resembled that of its English parent magazine.

Punch, a British-run magazine established in Calcutta, and Hindi Punch, an Indian newspaper based in Bombay and published in Gujarati and English, were basically publications that circulated within the imperial public sphere that linked Britain with her colonies. These journals straddled the line between colonial imitation and colonial parody by investigating how parody, inversion, and caricature, in both visual and verbal forms, played a significant part in Indian reactions to their image in the British press. The illustrated newspaper Hindi Punch was expressly in dialogue with British Punch and the Anglo-Indian monthly Indian Charivari. Hindi Punch employed parody to respond to racist drawings in these periodicals and to counternarrative current political events.

Barjorjee Nowrosjee was an editor and proprietor of the Parsee Punch, an illustrated Anglo-Gujarati comic weekly which appeared in four sheets, published at the Apyakhatir Press. This became the Hindi Punch in 1888. A selection of cartoons, sketches and caricatures from Hindi Punch were published as a monthly, under the title Pickings from the Hindi Punch. The monthly periodical had witty and critical comments on social mores, endorsed reformist ideas, supported the national movement, and caricatured important international events. It was at its best when reporting on the public health scene in Bombay. It spared no one in power and called for the urgent attention of the authorities to sanitary matters. Yet it gave praise on occasions, particularly commending the work of Indian doctors during the plague epidemic of 1896-1897.

Overall it presented a humorous commentary on the political and social events of the year, offering insights into the prevailing sentiments and opinions of the time. Also providing a fascinating glimpse into the political and social landscape of India during the early 20th century, as seen through the eyes of one of its most talented cartoonists.

While in the case of the British Punch a complete print run is easily available in many American and British libraries, the same does not hold true for the colonial versions of Punch like The Oudh Punch, Hindi Punch and Hindu Punch which are not easily available and are rare and scarce.

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