R. C. Lehmann

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For the 19th-century portrait artist, see Rudolph Lehmann.

R.C. Lehmann, from The History of Punch

Rudolph Chambers Lehmann (1856–1929), usually referred to as R.C. Lehmann, was an English writer, best known the period of three decades in which he was a major contributor to Punch. His children were John Lehmann, Rosamond Lehmann and the actress Beatrix Lehmann (1903–1979).

He had a varied career, being president of the Cambridge Union Society, a Liberal Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Harborough, editor of the Daily News and as a playwright. In April 1889, he began editing the Cambridge undergraduates' magazine Granta; his first contribution to Punch appeared in the December 14th 1889 issue of Punch, a dialogue with the title "Among the Amateurs". More pieces appeared, such as the series titled "Modern Types", and parodies of well-known contemporary authors under the title of "Mr Punch's Prize Novels", and within four months he had been appointed as one of the editorial staff and regular contributors, his writings for Punch stretching over thirty years, from 1889 to 1919. He wrote verse, mostly light; and he tried his hand as a lyricist in such works as His Majesty, a comic opera in the Gilbert and Sullivan vein, with music by Alexander Mackenzie, a libretto by F. C. Burnand and additional lyrics by Adrian Ross, presented at the Savoy Theatre in 1897.

He is sketched in A History of Punch by R. G. G. Price as indolent, but able to rouse to write a short piece, and as having given some of that character to the rest of the staff. Perhaps in keeping, he was considered an authority on rowing, about which he wrote a book. Other books derived from Punch writing, such as The Vagabond and Other Poems from Punch.