The Pictorial Press Part 17

Knight and Mr. Hill often walked to town together, and their conversation naturally turned to a subject in which they both felt a special interest--the means of improving the condition of the people by the diffusion of cheap literature, and so counteracting the dangerous and offensive publications which then abounded. One morning in early spring their talk was of this kind, when Mr. Hill exclaimed, 'Let us see what something cheap and good can accomplis.h.!.+ Let us have a Penny Magazine!' Mr. Knight immediately adopted the suggestion, which was cordially approved by the Lord Chancellor Brougham; and on March 31, 1832, appeared the first number of 'the _Penny Magazine_ of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge.' It was necessary to avoid making the new periodical anything like a newspaper lest it should become liable to stamp duty, and at first very little expense was incurred for ill.u.s.trations, most of the engravings in the early numbers being reprinted from other works of the Society. It was not till six months had elapsed that Mr. Knight ventured into the wide field of ill.u.s.tration, and made the public familiar with great works of art, such as the 'Laoc.o.o.n,' the 'Apollo Belvedere,' the 'Dying Gladiator,' the 'Cartoons,' &c. The best pictures of the old masters were intermingled with scenes at home and abroad, with places of renown and ill.u.s.trious men of all nations and of every age.

The success of the _Penny Magazine_ was a surprise to the publisher and an astonishment to most persons. At the end of 1832 it had reached a sale of 200,000 in weekly numbers and monthly parts, and it soon produced a revolution in popular art throughout the world. Stereotype casts of its best cuts were supplied for the ill.u.s.tration of publications of a similar character which appeared in Germany, France, Holland, Livonia, Bohemia, Italy, Ionian Islands, Sweden, Norway, Spanish America, and the Brazils. The entire work was also reprinted in the United States from plates sent from this country.[6]

It continued its prosperous career for nine years, when a new series was commenced, with considerable improvements in engraving and printing.

Five volumes of the new series were published, but the sale declined, owing to the commencement of ill.u.s.trated newspapers, and the _Penny Magazine_ in its old form came to an end in 1845, three years after the commencement of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_.[7] _Knight's Penny Magazine_, a smaller miscellany, commencing in January, 1846, kept up the old name for six months longer, and then it ceased to exist. In announcing its discontinuance, Mr. Knight thus closes this interesting chapter of literary history:--'The present series of the _Penny Magazine_ is closed, after an experience of only six months. The editor has no reason to complain of the want of public encouragement, for the sale of this series has exceeded that of its predecessor in 1845. But the sale, such as it is, is scarcely remunerative; and there are indications that it may decline rather than increase. This is a hint which cannot be mistaken. It shall not be said of his humble efforts to continue, upon an equality with the best of his contemporaries, a publication which once had a decided pre-eminence, that

"Superfluous lags the veteran on the stage."

He leaves this portion of popular literature to be cultivated by those whose new energy may be worth more than his old experience. The _Penny Magazine_ shall begin and end with him. It shall not pa.s.s into other hands.'

Mr. Knight attributed the falling off in the sale of the _Penny Magazine_ to the extended sale of newspapers and the application of wood-engravings to their ill.u.s.tration; and in his _Pa.s.sages of a Working Life_ he relates how he first heard of the journal that was destined to succeed the _Penny Magazine_ in the field of popular art:--'In 1842, having occasion to be in attendance at the Central Criminal Court, my curiosity was excited by an unusual spectacle--that of an artist, seated amongst the civic dignitaries on the bench, diligently employed in sketching two Lascars, on their trial for a capital offence. What was there so remarkable in the case, in the persons, or even in the costume of the accused, that they should be made the subject of a picture? The mystery was soon explained to me. The _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ had been announced for publication on the Sat.u.r.day of the week in which I saw the wretched foreigners standing at the bar. I knew something about hurrying on wood-engravers for the _Penny Magazine_, but a newspaper was an essentially different affair. How, I thought, could artists and journalists so work concurrently that the news and the appropriate ill.u.s.trations should both be fresh? How could such things be managed with any approach to fidelity of representation unless all the essential characteristics of a newspaper were sacrificed in the attempt to render it pictorial? I fancied that this rash experiment would be a failure. It proved to be such a success as could only be ensured by resolute and persevering struggles against natural difficulties.'

Charles Knight was born at Windsor in 1791. The son of a bookseller, he very early became connected with the press. At the age of twenty-one he conducted the _Windsor and Eton Express_, and a few years later he became the editor of the _Guardian_, a London weekly paper. He afterwards started a monthly magazine called the _Etonian_, and amongst his contributors were Macaulay, Praed, and other clever young men who had been educated at Eton, some of whom supported him in a later venture, _Knight's Quarterly Magazine_. In the midst of his varied duties as author and publisher he never lost sight of the great question of popular education, and heartily joined in the movement for repealing the taxes on knowledge. He gave expression to his views in _The Struggles of a Book against Excessive Taxation_ and _The Case of the Authors as regards the Paper Duty_. He paid the enormous sum of 16,500_l._ for paper duty on the _Penny Cyclopedia_ alone, and on the same work he expended 40,000_l._ for literature and engravings. When this great and useful work was completed Mr. Knight was entertained at a public dinner presided over by Lord Brougham, when the leading men in literature and art united to do him honour. The _Penny Cyclopedia_ was not a commercial success, solely because of the paper duty.

Of the numerous ill.u.s.trated works published by Mr. Knight, the _Pictorial Bible_ was the most successful in a pecuniary sense, and he considered the _Arabian Nights_ the most beautiful as regards ill.u.s.trations. He was so ardent a promoter of ill.u.s.trative art, that he invented a press for printing in colours, from which issued many coloured engravings for his various works, such as _Old England_, the _Farmer's Library_, &c.

Mr. Knight died at Addlestone, Surrey, March 9, 1873, and was buried in his native town of Windsor. A marble bust of him was placed by public subscription in the Council Chamber of that town, and two scholars.h.i.+ps, bearing his name, were founded in the school of the Stationers' Company.

It was well said of Charles Knight on the occasion of unveiling his bust at Windsor, that he set out in life with the desire to make knowledge a common possession instead of an exclusive privilege. He laboured for the good of his fellow-men rather than for the rewards of fame or fortune, and no man was more worthy of honour for his public services and his private virtues. The last time I saw him was at the grave of an old friend of his and mine; and as I recall the remembrance of his grey hair tossed in the wintry wind, I adopt in all seriousness what Douglas Jerrold said in jest, that two words would suffice for his epitaph--'good Knight.'

It is curious that the printing-press, which has worked such mighty changes, should have reproduced in another form the ancient jester who stood in cap and bells behind his master's chair, and the merry-andrew who made the rustics laugh upon the village green. The numerous satirical and humorous publications of the Victorian era represent a distinct kind of ill.u.s.trated journalism, through which runs an amusing commentary on pa.s.sing events, combined with a vein of satire always good-humoured and often instructive. At the head of this array of wit and wisdom stands _Punch_, who, however, was preceded by _Figaro in London_, conducted by Mr. Gilbert A'Beckett, afterwards one of _Punch's_ strongest supporters. Mr. A'Beckett faithfully acted up to his motto:--

'Satire should, like a polished razor keen, Wound with a touch that's hardly felt or seen;'

but the const.i.tution of _Figaro_ was not strong, and he died young.

While the _Penny Magazine_ was yet in vigorous life, and the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ was as yet unborn, there used to be a weekly gathering of authors, actors, and artists, at a tavern in Wych Street, Strand, where the late Mr. Mark Lemon presided as the genial host. This company of merry men were mostly on the sunny side of life, and disposed to look upon the world and the world's cares with a laughing eye. They were ever ready to go out of their way for the sake of a joke, and a pun, good or bad, was pleasant to them. In this congenial atmosphere _Punch_ germinated, and in July, 1841, that shrewd observer and good-humoured satirist appeared. Mr. _Punch_, like some other great men, had a hard struggle in his early days; but prosperous times came, and he now combines in his own person the dignity of age with the vivacity of youth. _Puck_, _Diogenes_, and numerous other imitators of _Punch_, attempted to obtain a share of public favour, but most of them died after a brief existence. The best of these that survive are _Fun_ and _Judy_, which, with the _Hornet_, _Vanity Fair_, _Figaro_ (a revival of the name), _Moons.h.i.+ne_, _Funny Folks_, and others, continue their weekly budgets with a smartness and vigour not unworthy of their great prototype.

FOOTNOTES:

[1] There was another Sunday paper in existence about this time, the _Sunday Reformer and Universal Register_. In the number for Dec.

29th, 1793, there is a copperplate portrait of Robert Lowth, D.D., Lord Bishop of London, then recently deceased.

[2] 'Old Stories Retold,' in _All the Year Round_.

[3] Grant's _Newspaper Press_.

[4] 'Old Stories Retold,' in _All the Year Round_.

[5] _Pa.s.sages of a Working Life._

[6] At this time there was another ill.u.s.trated weekly magazine in existence--the _Mirror_, which began about 1822. The engravings it contained were chiefly of a topographical character.

[7] The _Sat.u.r.day Magazine_ was started in imitation of the _Penny Magazine_, and, like its prototype, had a considerable popularity for some years.

CHAPTER VIII.

The _Ill.u.s.trated London News_--The Early Numbers--The Burning of Hamburgh--Facetious Advertis.e.m.e.nts--Bal Masque at Buckingham Palace--Attempted a.s.sa.s.sination of the Queen--The Queen's First Trip by Railway--First Royal Visit to Scotland--Political Portraits--R.

Cobden--Lord John Russell--Benjamin Disraeli--The French Revolution, 1848--The Great Exhibition, 1851--The Crimean War--Coloured Pictures--Christmas Numbers--Herbert Ingram--The _Pictorial Times_--Other Ill.u.s.trated Journals.

Having traced the idea of ill.u.s.trating the news of the day from the early 'news-book' through its various stages of growth and development, we come to the first regular ill.u.s.trated newspaper that was established.

The projector had long held the opinion, founded on his experience as a newsvendor at Nottingham, that such a publication would succeed. He had noticed that when the _Observer_ and the _Weekly Chronicle_ contained engravings, there was a much larger demand for those papers than when they were without ill.u.s.trations, and he conceived the idea of starting a paper whose chief attraction should be its _pictures_. He thought if he could combine _art_ and _news_ together, he would be adding greatly to the ordinary attractions of a newspaper, and would probably secure a widely extended circle of readers. His customers at Nottingham often asked for the 'London news' when anything of interest was astir in the Metropolis, and his observant shrewdness led him to conclude that this would be a good name for his paper. He accordingly called it the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, and under that t.i.tle the first number appeared on May 14th, 1842. It contained sixteen printed pages and thirty-two woodcuts, including all the little headings to the columns, price sixpence, and it equalled in size the _Atlas_ which was then sold for a s.h.i.+lling, without engravings. It was printed by R. Palmer (at the office of Palmer and Clayton), 10 Crane Court, Fleet Street, and published by J. Clayton, 320 Strand. The introductory address is written in a florid and inflated style; but it shows a correct perception of the wide and varied range that would have to be taken by an ill.u.s.trated newspaper.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE BURNING OF HAMBURGH. FROM THE FIRST NUMBER OF THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: HEADING TO 'COURT AND HAUT TON,' COLUMN, 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]

The well-known engraved heading represents a view of London from the Thames, as it was then,--St. Paul's towering in the centre, and the Lord Mayor's procession in State barges pa.s.sing up the river. The first engraving is a 'View of the Conflagration of the City of Hamburgh,'

which began on May 5th, and continued for several days. A great part of the city was destroyed, and more than one hundred lives were lost. As marking an epoch in the history of the Pictorial Press, I reprint this engraving and some others from the early numbers. The next cut is apparently a view of some town in Italy or France; but there is no name to the engraving or any reference to it in the surrounding text, which is all about the dreadful railway accident between Paris and Versailles which had then just occurred, whereby fifty persons were killed, and one hundred and fifty were more or less injured. On the next page are views of the city of Cabul and the fortress of Ghuznee, just then the seat of stirring events. The columns of 'Foreign Intelligence,' 'The Court and Haut Ton,' 'Births, Marriages, and Deaths,' were each headed by a small woodcut, an example of which is given here. There is also an ill.u.s.tration of ladies' fas.h.i.+ons, accompanied by a gus.h.i.+ng, descriptive letter from Paris, beginning: 'Dear Mr. Editor, I feel an inexpressible delight in inditing my first communication to your lady readers, upon the fas.h.i.+ons of the _haut ton_ of this _ville de gaite_. So suddenly and with such power has the sun lately shot forth, that there is no end to invention in our spring fas.h.i.+ons.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: FAs.h.i.+ONS FOR MAY, 1842. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]

It would appear that ill.u.s.trated police reports were to have formed part of the attractions of the paper, and several small cuts dealing with humorous subjects are scattered through the early numbers. The cases were evidently selected with a view to provoke merriment rather than to indulge a morbid taste for criminal records, and seem to show that the paper in its early days possessed something of the frolicsomeness of youth, and did not consider a joke beneath its dignity. It had its wild oats to sow, and was not indisposed to emulate its contemporary _Punch_, then also a young joker. The first ill.u.s.trations of the kind relate to a case at the Mansion House before Sir Peter Laurie, where the manager of a matrimonial inst.i.tution sought to defend his establishment from the strictures of that celebrated 'putter-down.' A few pages further on we come upon two facetious advertis.e.m.e.nts, one of them professing to have been called forth by the report of the above case at the Mansion House:--

'MATRIMONY.--A _professional_ gentleman, who has for some time past enrolled the category of his mult.i.tudinous graces, accomplishments, and _prospects_, in the portfolio of the "Matrimonial Alliance Establishment," fearing that, under the influence of Sir Peter Laurie's recent animadversion they will waste their sweetness unseen--unknown in the rose-tinted volume of the modern Hymen, avails himself of the glorious opportunity afforded to advertisers by the proprietors of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, "and boldly and unhesitatingly submits his picture in little," to the approving smiles of the fair daughters (and _widows_) of Albion's Isle, conscious of his perfect sincerity in stating that he has no _insurmountable_ objection to fortune being combined with beauty, taste, lively disposition, and cheerful temper; he feels a.s.sured that the lovely creature whose eyes shall be fortunate enough, first to meet this advertis.e.m.e.nt (and then the advertiser), will secure to herself a perfect amenity, if truth be truth, and manners--not money--make the man. Address, with portrait (miniature set in gold, pearls, or other precious stones, not refused), A. Donis Slim, Esq., 320 Strand.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: A. DONIS SLIM, ESQ. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,'

MAY 14, 1842.]

The other advertis.e.m.e.nt referred to is of an entirely different character, being addressed to the commercial world:--

'CAPITAL SPEC! Safe as the Bank!--Wanted a partner in a snug, genteel little concern, with an airy and pleasant corner situation in one of the most densely crowded thoroughfares of the Metropolis, and doing a good, ready-money business, without much risk; which an increase of capital would considerably extend. The returns exceed the outlay, and the Sunday custom alone covers the rent. The taxes are redeemed, and there is a long unexpired term of the lease, which is held at a lolly-pop. The coming into a half-share, including plant and stock, very moderate--say a trifle above 0000_l._ Any person who can command the above sum will not only find this a decided bargain, but a very desirable opportunity of commencing business, and well worthy the attention of an industrious person of small means and less family. References exchanged. Address, prepaid, to B. B. (Brandy Ball), Pieman's Alley.'

[Ill.u.s.tration: PARTNERs.h.i.+P WANTED. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,'

MAY 14, 1842.]

The princ.i.p.al engravings in this first number ill.u.s.trate the first Bal Masque given by Queen Victoria at Buckingham Palace. They were drawn by Sir John Gilbert, then at the beginning of his career, and it was most fortunate for the new enterprise that an artist of such great and varied abilities was found at the very outset to give his powerful aid to the undertaking. His wonderful facility and bold picturesqueness were exactly suited to the requirements of an ill.u.s.trated newspaper. The first enabled him to do his work with marvellous quickness, and the second was an excellent counterpoise to the damaging effects of hurried engraving and rapid printing. The ill.u.s.trations of the Queen's Bal Masque are eight in number, including character portraits of Her Majesty and the Prince Consort. There are two cuts from a book under review, and the last ill.u.s.tration in the number represents a long line of men carrying advertising boards 'to proclaim the advent of this important publication.'

The first number sold well, probably because the public was curious to see what the new paper was like. Twenty-six thousand copies were disposed of, but there was a great falling-off in the sale of the second number, which opened with a leading article explaining the principles that were to guide the paper in its future career. The cut on the front page represents the ceremony of taking the veil, and was evidently drawn by Gilbert. The next engravings ill.u.s.trate Waghorn's Overland Route to India, then recently organized, followed by an ill.u.s.trated account of the sale at Strawberry Hill, and a portrait of a then notorious criminal, Daniel Good, which is accompanied by an editorial apology disclaiming all intention of joining the 'raw-head and b.l.o.o.d.y-bones'

school, but in the interests of science commending the portrait to the disciples of Lavater. This is the only instance of such an engraving being inserted in the paper (with the exception of the portrait of MacNaghten, who shot Mr. Drummond), and it is evident the editor's better feeling revolted against it, although he was only following the example of the _Observer_ and the _Weekly Chronicle_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HER MAJESTY AS QUEEN PHILIPPA. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' MAY 14, 1842.]

The first engraving in No. 3 is a portrait of Mehemet Ali, which is given in connexion with further ill.u.s.trations of the Overland Route to India. But the most important picture in this number is a portrait of the Queen with the baby Prince of Wales in her lap, drawn by Gilbert.

There is also the first example of a sporting ill.u.s.tration--a portrait of Attila, the winner of the Derby, which accompanies an account of Epsom Races, with several other engravings.

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE QUEEN'S FIRST RAILWAY JOURNEY. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' JUNE 19, 1842.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: ATTEMPTED a.s.sa.s.sINATION OF THE QUEEN. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' JUNE 5, 1842.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: MR. R. COBDEN, M.P. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,'

JULY 2, 1842.]

An event now occurred which afforded the first important opportunity of ill.u.s.trating the news of the hour. This was the attempt on the life of the Queen, who was fired at as she was driving up Const.i.tution Hill by a young man named Francis. The public excitement on this occasion was very great, and it is a little surprising that the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ did not make more of it. In No. 4 there are two ill.u.s.trations in connexion with this event, one representing the attempted a.s.sa.s.sination, the other the examination of the prisoner before the Privy Council. The engravings are not very imposing, but large blocks had not then come into use; and as the event occurred on a Monday there was not too much time, with the limited means then at command, to produce them on a large scale. In No. 6 there is a small cut ent.i.tled 'The Queen's first trip by Railway,' which ill.u.s.trates an account of her Majesty's first journey by railway from Windsor to London. With the exception of the drawings by Gilbert most of the ill.u.s.trations in these first six numbers are of an inferior character, and show that the conductors of the paper had not yet obtained the best artistic help. Indeed it was a long time before the higher cla.s.s of artists and engravers would believe that an ill.u.s.trated newspaper was worthy of their professional attention.

Ill.u.s.trations of the Police Reports continued to be scattered through the early numbers, mingled with such subjects as a ballet at Her Majesty's Theatre, a public dinner, a launch, a horserace, and sketches of the Chartist riots at Preston. The Queen's first visit to Scotland was very copiously ill.u.s.trated, and a series of 'Popular Portraits' was begun which included most of the prominent politicians of the day. In No. 11 the fatal accident to the Duke of Orleans is ill.u.s.trated; and further on the hand of Gilbert is visible in the drawings representing the funeral of the Duke of Suss.e.x, the Lord Mayor's Show, and the grand Polish Ball at Guildhall. With No. 19 the office was removed to 198 Strand, where it has remained ever since. The first Cattle Show ill.u.s.trations occur in No. 31, and it is evident that the artists by whom they were executed had not made that kind of art their special study. The approach of Christmas is heralded by the introduction of various laughable sketches; the Pantomimes are ill.u.s.trated by Alfred Crowquill, and Christmas himself is welcomed in a 'Song of the Wa.s.sail Bowl.' Kenny Meadows finishes the volume with a party of Cupids carrying the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ through the air, while a literary and artistic Cupid, cap in hand, makes his bow to the reader.