The magazine of satire variously known as The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp, The Illustrated Wasp, or simply The Wasp debuted in August 1876.

For its first seven years, until 1883, the Wasp's chief artist was George Frederick Keller. Emperor Norton featured in a number of Keller's cartoons for the magazine. And it mostly has been in this context that The Emperor Norton Trust has discussed the Wasp — the notable exception being the magazine's obituary of the Emperor, which was accompanied by a lovely front-cover portrait by Keller.

In fact — as one would expect — Emperor Norton was a regular subject for the Wasp's writers and wags. But, this piece of the historical record hasn't made its way into accounts of the Emperor.

To help correct this oversight, we present here a chronological roundup of 15 of the Wasp's best columns, items, quips, and asides mentioning Emperor Norton between 1876 and 1879.  

By and large, the Wasp treated the Emperor as a figure of fun. But, as in the Daily Alta newspaper — another local publication that made a habit of using Emperor Norton as “content” — the Wasp’s apparent ironic detachment from the Emperor often betrays a note of sympathy just under the surface.

Bonus: In the course of our research, we discovered a cartoon we'd never seen — and whose publication here may be the first publication or notice of the cartoon since its original appearance in 1876.