Mr. Punch's Pocket Ibsen: A Collection of Some of the Master's Best-known Dramas Condensed, Revised, and Slightly Rearranged for the Benefit of the Earnest Student

Published in 1893, Mr. Punch's Pocket Ibsen served as a satirical response to the intense cultural debate surrounding Henrik Ibsen’s plays during the late Victorian era. F. Anstey, the pseudonym for Thomas Anstey Guthrie, utilized his association with Punch magazine to lampoon the perceived morbidity and social radicalism of Ibsen’s work, which was then gaining traction among London's intellectual elite. By offering condensed and rearranged versions of dramas like Hedda Gabler and A Doll's House, Anstey sought to expose what he viewed as the pretentiousness and grim absurdity of the burgeoning 'Ibsenites'.

The volume is well regarded for its clever parodies, which feature illustrations by Bernard Partridge that mimic the austere tone of contemporary stage productions. Anstey’s writing style in the book is characterized by a dry, witty irreverence that aligns with the broader satirical mission of Punch in the 1890s. The work was received as a lighthearted corrective to the solemnity of serious theater criticism, cementing its place as a classic example of late-19th-century literary parody that remains a significant artifact of the reception history of Scandinavian modernism in Britain.