''The Wasp'', also known as ''The Illustrated Wasp'', ''The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp'', ''The Wasp News-Letter'' and the ''San Francisco News- Letter Wasp'', was an American weekly satirical magazine based in

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

. Founded in 1876, it closed in 1941, the name of the magazine having been changed several times in the interim.

Background

''The Wasp'' was founded as a weekly satire magazine in

in 1876 by the Bohemian expatriate Francis Korbel and his two brothers, who also founded the Korbel Champagne Cellars. The first issue was published on August 5, 1876. The lead artist until 1883 was George Frederick Keller. The magazine was somewhat unusual at the time, owing to the Korbels' expertise in mass-producing color

lithographs Lithography () is a planographic method of printing originally based on the immiscibility of oil and water. The printing is from a stone (lithographic limestone) or a metal plate with a smooth surface. It was invented in 1796 by the German a ...

in print, a process they had come to master in their first business, the manufacture of labeled cigar boxes. The magazine was sold in secret in 1881 to Charles Webb Howard, who hired Edward C. Macfarlane as publisher.

Ambrose Bierce Ambrose Gwinnett Bierce (June 24, 1842 – ) was an American short story writer, journalist, poet, and American Civil War veteran. His book '' The Devil's Dictionary'' was named as one of "The 100 Greatest Masterpieces of American Literature" by ...

was hired as editor soon afterward, serving in that role from January 1, 1881, until September 11, 1885. During Bierce's editorial tenure, ''The Wasp'' published his column "Prattle" and several serialized installments of his satirical definitions later collected as ''

The Devil's Dictionary ''The Devil's Dictionary'' is a satirical dictionary written by American journalist Ambrose Bierce, consisting of common words followed by humorous and satirical definitions. The lexicon was written over three decades as a series of installments ...

''. Political cartoons from ''The Wasp'' are often cited in Asian-American anti-defamation materials as an example of early stereotyping of Chinese immigrants. With the following name changes, the magazine ran from August 5, 1876, to April 25, 1941:Edward E. Chielens, ''American Literary Magazines: The Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries'' (Greenwood Press, 1986), 437 * ''The Wasp'', August 5, 1876 – January 20, 1877. * ''The Illustrated Wasp'', January 27 – September 22, 1877. * ''The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp'', September 29, 1877 – 1 December 1, 1880. * ''The Wasp'', December 17, 1880 – October 5, 1895. * ''The Wasp: The Illustrated Weekly of the Pacific Coast'', October 12, 1895 – April 3, 1897. * ''The Wasp: A Journal of Illustration and Comment'', April 10, 1897 – August 25, 1928. * ''The Wasp News-Letter: A weekly Journal of Illustration and Comment'', September 1, 1928 – July 27, 1935. * ''San Francisco News- Letter Wasp'', August 3, 1935 – April 25, 1941.

Cartoons from ''The Wasp''

file:Mussel Slough editorial cartoon - The Wasp 8 July 1881.jpg, Railroad tycoons Charles Crocker and Leland Stanford robbing victims in the

Mussel Slough Tragedy The Mussel Slough Tragedy was a dispute over land titles between settlers and the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP) that took place on May 11, 1880, on a farm located northwest of Hanford, California, in the central San Joaquin Valley, leaving seve ...

(1881) The Modern Messiah - Keller 1882.jpg, Oscar Wilde's San Francisco visit (1882) file:Bayonet Constitution political cartoon 1887.jpg, Hawaiian

Bayonet Constitution The 1887 Constitution of the Hawaiian Kingdom was a legal document prepared by anti-monarchists to strip the Hawaiian monarchy of much of its authority, initiating a transfer of power to American, European and native Hawaiian elites. It became k ...

cartoon showing King Kalakaua being toppled (1887) file:John Bull vs Grover Cleveland in Hawaii political cartoon 1887.jpg, Kalakaua, Kapiolani,

Grover Cleveland Stephen Grover Cleveland (March 18, 1837June 24, 1908) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 22nd and 24th president of the United States from 1885 to 1889 and from 1893 to 1897. Cleveland is the only president in American ...

, and

John Bull John Bull is a national personification of the United Kingdom in general and England in particular, especially in political cartoons and similar graphic works. He is usually depicted as a stout, middle-aged, country-dwelling, jolly and matter- ...

battle for power in Hawaii (1887)

Notes

External links

''The Wasp'' scanned volumes
at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

Gullette, Alan. Ambrose Bierce, Master of the Macabre

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wasp Satirical magazines published in the United States Weekly magazines published in the United States Defunct magazines published in the United States Magazines established in 1876 Magazines disestablished in 1941 Magazines published in San Francisco 1876 establishments in California