The Pictorial Press Part 18

The first volume ends with the year 1842, and it has for a frontispiece a large view of London, a t.i.tle-page drawn by Gilbert, and headings to preface and index by Kenny Meadows. The preface is written in the florid style of the introductory address in the first number; but the following pa.s.sage refers, not inappropriately, to the value and interest of the work to the future historian:--

'What would Sir Walter Scott or any of the great writers of modern times have given--whether for the purposes of fiction or history, or political example or disquisition--for any museum-preserved volume such as we have here enshrined. The life of the times--the signs of its taste and intelligence--its public monuments and public men--its festivals--inst.i.tutions--amus.e.m.e.nts--discoveries--and the very reflection of its living manners and costumes--the variegated dresses of its mind and body--what are--what _must_ be all these but treasures of truth that would have lain hid in Time's tomb, or perished amid the sand of his hour-gla.s.s but for the enduring and resuscitating powers of art--the eternal register of the pencil giving life and vigour and palpability to the confirming details of the pen. Could the days of Elizabeth or others as bright and earlier still be unfolded to us through such a mirror, what a mint of wisdom might we gather in from such dazzling periods of the past! Of just as much captivating value then is such a book to the future. It will pour the lore of the Antiquarian into the scholar's yearning soul, and teach him truth about those who have gone before him, as it were, with the Pictorial Alphabet of Art! It is in this sense that we regard the greatness of our design, and are proud of its envied and unexampled success; and it is for this end that we shall strain every nerve to perfect it into order and completeness that may accord with the beauty and brilliancy which many episodes of its execution have already been fortunate to display. Scott might carry Elizabeth to Kenilworth through the regions of his fine imagination, backed and supported by books, and we may take _c.u.m grano salis_ the Antiquarian's and the Poet's word, but the year two thousand will be ten times better a.s.sured of all the splendid realities of our own Victoria's visit to the native land of the Northern Magician who enshrined in fiction the glories of Queen Bess. This volume is a work that history _must_ keep.'

At the end of the preface is printed the following 'Dedicatory Sonnet:'--

'To the great public,--that gigantic soul Which lends the nation's body life and light, And makes the blood within its veins grow bright With gushing glory,--we this muster-roll Of all the deeds that pa.s.s 'neath its controul Do dedicate,--the page of simple news Is here adorned and filled with pictured life, Coloured with thousand tints--the rainbow strife Of all the world's emotions--all the hues Of war--peace--commerce;--agriculture rife With budding plenty that doth life infuse And fair domestic joy--all--all are here To gild the _new_, and from the bygone year Present a gift to take--to cherish and to use.'

The second volume began with several improvements. A 'Romance of Real Life,' by Henry c.o.c.kton, ill.u.s.trated by Kenny Meadows, was the first attempt to infuse a new interest into newspaper literature by the introduction of fiction. Stories by Thomas Miller and others followed.

This feature of the paper was continued for some time until _fiction_ was crowded out by _fact_. The popular portraits were done on a larger scale and were of a more ambitious character. In No. 40 there is one of Lord John Russell, which is reprinted here as an example of the improved portraiture of the period.

[Ill.u.s.tration: PORTRAIT OF LORD JOHN RUSSELL. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' 1843.]

In the following year was commenced a series of 'Parliamentary Portraits,' one of which I have selected to accompany the portrait of Lord John Russell. It is that of Mr. Disraeli, and it will perhaps interest the reader to compare the present estimate of Lord Beaconsfield with what was said of Mr. Disraeli in 1844. The following is a portion of the article which accompanies the portrait:--'The most remarkable speeches in the recent debates have been those of Mr. Disraeli, the Member for Shrewsbury. He has lately made himself more prominent in the sphere of literature and politics as the expounder of the views and opinions of that section of the Conservative party which has received the name of "Young England." His opinions however are too peculiar, have too much individuality ever to become those of a party. We scarcely think "Young England" capable of holding as points of belief the startling paradoxes to which Mr. Disraeli occasionally gives utterance.

His speeches abound with happily turned sentences, in which a clever sarcasm is thrown into the ant.i.thetical form; they also contain a large amount of historical information, on which he draws almost as often as Macaulay himself. He rarely announces a positively new principle, but he often places old ones in a strange and startling light, and states the most extraordinary inconsistencies with an air of such perfect earnestness and conviction that his auditors are sometimes puzzled whether to admire or laugh at him. But he is not one of those men who can be laughed at; we have seen him turn the laugh most sorely against those who thought themselves securely trenched behind form and precedent. He can hit hard, and none have suffered more from his sarcasm than the present Premier and the Home Secretary. He seems to mangle them with peculiar gusto, and deals with them as if he was annihilating the Tadpole or Taper of his own "Coningsby." His speeches have not much metaphor, nor does he indulge in rhetorical glitter and ornament; we cannot call him impa.s.sioned, nor say he is eloquent; but he interests, informs, and amuses. A speech from Disraeli is sure to command attention. His manner is not calculated to set off his matter to the best advantage. His delivery is heavy, and of action he has none whatever. He thrusts his hands deep into his side-pockets, leans forward a little, or turns from side to side according to whom he may be addressing. But that is all. Though he sets the House cheering or laughing for minutes together, his countenance remains impa.s.sive; he says a good thing as if perfectly unconscious of it.'

The paper rapidly advanced in public favour and soon reached a circulation of 66,000. It celebrated the completion of the first year of its existence by the publication of a double number, profusely ill.u.s.trated by Gilbert, Harvey, and Kenny Meadows.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BENJAMIN DISRAELI, M.P. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' JUNE 22, 1844.]

The _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ was not established without many misgivings as to its ultimate success. Its founder probably did not at first realise all the difficulties that lay in his way, but as fast as they appeared he met them with characteristic courage and energy, and overcame them by perseverance. He seized on every opportunity to consolidate the strength of the paper, and paid a great amount of personal attention to its management, often denying himself sleep one or two nights a-week. As the profits increased he kept on increasing the scope and number of its attractive features. He made it a rule to spare no expense in every department of the journal; whatever money could command for its success he resolved to have. After a time he was able to act on this wise resolve to the fullest extent, and in the end he achieved a great success.

In describing the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ during the first year of its existence, I have directed attention chiefly to the pictorial portion of its contents, that being the characteristic feature of the paper by which it was distinguished from its purely literary contemporaries. The engravings I have reprinted from it are given as curiosities and not as specimens of excellence. The succeeding volumes contain abundant evidence that the highest talent was afterwards employed in producing the best examples of art as well as in the ill.u.s.tration of news. In its sixth year the course of public events opened up new and stirring scenes for its pages. So great was the interest felt in the exciting events of the year 1848, that the sale of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ was more than doubled in three months. The vigorous sketches of the French Revolution published week after week were so eagerly bought that the publisher was not always able to meet the demand. On one occasion he was freely pelted with flour and other harmless missiles because the London 'trade' could not get their supply soon enough to satisfy their impatience. The noisy newsboys, in mocking imitation of the Paris mob which was then making the streets of that city ring with cries of 'a bas Guizot!' vented their indignation against the publisher of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ by shouting 'a bas Little! a bas Little!'

But though the year of revolutions was so rich in materials for pictorial journalism, the year of the Great Exhibition was yet more fruitful. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was a perfect novelty, and was hailed as the harbinger of peace on earth and good-will among men.

Coming so soon after the convulsions of 1848, the peaceful display was more enchanting from the contrast. Such a golden opportunity was not lost upon the pictorial press, and every stage of the construction of the first Crystal Palace was represented. The very plan of the building was first made public in the pages of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, the first design adopted by the Commissioners having been superseded by Sir Joseph Paxton's Palace of Gla.s.s. The building was shown in progress from the raising of the first column, and its removal was ill.u.s.trated to the clearing away of the foundations. In this 'Festival of Labour' the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ took a prominent place. An edition was printed in the Exhibition building by one of Applegarth's vertical printing-machines, then the quickest method of printing in use. At this time the paper was distinguished by the number and excellence of its ill.u.s.trations, and the '_London News_' printing-machine was one of the attractions of the 'World's Fair.'

In three years more the dreams of universal peace created by the Great Exhibition were rudely swept away by the declaration of war with Russia and subsequent invasion of the Crimea. The long and disastrous siege of Sebastopol, the a.s.saults on the Redan and the Malakoff, the battles of Balaclava and Inkermann, supplied the most exciting subjects for ill.u.s.tration. It was the first great war since Waterloo, and the national excitement being intensified by the maladministration of the Government, the British public eagerly bought the war sketches. The sale of the paper at this time was very great, yet it is a curious fact that it never reached so high a figure as during the peaceful exhibition of 1851,--a proof that, after all, the arts of peace are more attractive than the excitement of war.

At Christmas, 1855, a novel feature was introduced into the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_. For some years a Christmas number had been published, and it was now for the first time printed in _colours_. It is true the coloured pictures were little more than ordinary woodcuts with tints printed over them, but their imperfections were princ.i.p.ally owing to the breakdown of machinery and the great hurry in which they were produced.

In after years much better things were done, and the coloured Christmas pictures which have been for many years produced at the chromatic press of Leighton Bros. take rank among the best work of the kind. They have proved exceedingly popular, and always sold well. That of 'Little Red Riding Hood,' after J. Sant, R.A., published in 1863, was reprinted again and again, until the blocks were utterly worn out. They were then re-engraved, and again reprinted. The Christmas picture issued in 1882 ('Cinderella') was specially painted by Mr. Millais, R.A., at the price of 3000 guineas. When it is noted that the large coloured reproduction of this picture, together with seventeen highly finished full-page engravings by some of the best artists of the day, were sold for a shilling, it will be seen that the pictorial press is no unimportant factor in diffusing the purifying and softening influence of art.

During the forty-two years that have elapsed since the first ill.u.s.trated newspaper was founded, there has never been any long interval of peace.

War of some kind, big or little, has broken out, like a volcano, on some part of the earth's surface, and kept the Argus-eyed newspaper editor on the alert. From Alma to Tel-el-Kebir and the desert warfare of the Soudan, there has been a succession of conflicts, with only a short interval of a few years between; so that the food on which picture newspapers thrive best has been abundantly supplied, and this remarkable offspring of the printing-press has consequently increased and multiplied, and is now found in every corner of the earth, 'from China to Peru.' The reader may form some idea of the magnitude of the operations in connexion with ill.u.s.trated journalism when I state that at the marriage of the Prince of Wales the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ of that week consisted of three sheets, and 930,000 sheets were printed of that issue in one week. These sheets, if placed side by side, would cover 660 miles, so that, as they were printed on both sides, they represent a printed surface of, after deductions for margin, more than 1115 miles in length. Nearly eighty tons of paper and twenty-three hundredweight of printing-ink were used in the production of that number. Larger quant.i.ties have been printed of some issues, but the production was spread over a longer period of time. 930,000 sheets is the largest quant.i.ty ever printed _in one week_. It will thus be seen what an amount of business this represents to the paper-maker, the ink-maker, the wood-draughtsman, the engravers, the electrotypers, the compositors, printers, machine-men, roller-makers, warehous.e.m.e.n, and the numerous other workers in a newspaper printing-office.

The first editor of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ was Mr. Bailey, who was nicknamed 'Alphabet Bailey' on account of the great number of his Christian names, and the consequent multiplicity of his initials. He was also called 'Omnibus Bailey' from his having edited a periodical called the _Omnibus_. These names were given to him to distinguish him from Mr.

Thomas Haynes Bayley, the sentimental song-writer, author of 'I'd be a b.u.t.terfly,' 'The Soldier's Tear,' &c. Dr. Charles Mackay became the literary and political editor of the paper in 1848, and in 1852 he took its entire management and control, in which position he continued till 1859, when he resigned. The late John Timbs was for many years on the editorial staff, and his familiar figure is well remembered in the old room at 198 Strand, where he sat with paste and scissors, undisturbed by the noises which surrounded him both inside and outside the house, for in this one room the whole business of the paper was at one time conducted. Here the young literary or artistic aspirant, who thought he saw in the new journal an opening for his. .h.i.therto unappreciated talents, had to explain his proposals before the eyes and in the hearing of rivals who were waiting for their turn. The place was open to all comers, and was at once the centre of managerial, financial, and editorial affairs. But the founder of the paper received all who came with good-humour and generous feeling, and never disregarded a useful hint or refused the proffered a.s.sistance of a good man.

Herbert Ingram, the founder of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, was born at Boston, Lincolnshire, on the 27th of May, 1811. He lost his father very early, and being sent to the Boston Free School, he there obtained all the school education he ever received. The course of instruction through which he pa.s.sed was of the most circ.u.mscribed character, making his success in after-life all the more remarkable. At the age of fourteen he was apprenticed to Mr. Jos. Clarke, then a printer living in the Market Place, Boston. His master soon found that he possessed industry, patience, and perseverance in a high degree, qualities which unquestionably lay at the root of his subsequent success in life. He was always ready to work all night when orders were plentiful, and was unwilling to abandon anything he began until it was entirely complete.

He established a character for punctuality and trustworthiness, while he carefully looked after the interests of his employer. At the expiration of his apprenticeship he came to London and worked for about two years as a journeyman printer. He then settled in Nottingham, and commenced business as a printer, bookseller, and newsagent.

It was at this time Mr. Ingram was struck with the evident partiality of the public for _ill.u.s.trated news_. He found such an extraordinary demand for the numbers of the _Weekly Chronicle_ containing the engravings of the Greenacre murder that he set seriously to work on the scheme of an ill.u.s.trated newspaper, and put himself in communication with Mr.

Marriott, who was then the manager of the _Weekly Chronicle_. But at the outset it appeared impossible to overcome the difficulty of producing pictures quick enough and in such numbers as would furnish forth a paper while the news was fresh. In the gradual development of the first ill.u.s.trated newspaper it was, however, found that the draughtsmen and engravers of the day were fully equal to the demands made upon them, and a system of quick production was soon established which kept the paper on a level with current events.

Mr. Ingram, who had settled in London before he started the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, entered heart and soul into his new enterprise. He had much to learn, and many things to do that were neither easy nor pleasant, but he had the rare faculty of picking out the right men to help him. It was his wise policy to employ the best talent, and in order to have it to pay its possessor munificently. He was brought closely into connexion with the artistic and literary world, by whom he was sincerely respected, and with whom his dealings were uniformly marked by kindness and liberality. Though he had not himself received the advantages of literary or artistic culture, he was able to do much in diffusing a knowledge and love of art amongst the people. His enterprise helped to change the character of public taste, and allured it into channels which were previously open only to the wealthy and the refined.

His practical knowledge as a printer and newsagent were of infinite value in organizing and conducting the varied details of newspaper business. He was ever on the watch, and made opportunities where other men would have been indifferent and inactive. When a new Archbishop of Canterbury was installed the number of the paper containing an engraving of the ceremony was sent to every clergyman in England, and this was followed by a large and permanent increase in the number of subscribers--the first large rise in the sale since the paper began. At a much later date--long after the paper had become firmly established--the French authorities stopped the sale of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ in Paris on account of some article reflecting on the Emperor Napoleon. Mr. Ingram happened to be in Paris at the time, and he immediately showed that the old energy and perseverance of the Nottingham newsvendor had not forsaken him. He used great exertions to get the paper released, in which he at length succeeded, and he himself afterwards went round in a cab and delivered the numbers to the various subscribers. When he was at Nottingham he walked five miles (and of course five miles back) to supply a gentleman with a single paper; and on one occasion he got up at two in the morning, and travelled to London to get some papers, the ordinary post not arriving soon enough to satisfy the curiosity of his customers. His exertions were rewarded by the sale of more than 1000 copies of that paper in Nottingham alone.

This was probably one of the occasions which struck him so forcibly when the Nottingham public manifested such an eager interest in _ill.u.s.trated news_.

Throughout his life Mr. Ingram was devoted to the interests of his native town, and in return the people of Boston, in 1856, elected him as their representative in Parliament. At the general election which occurred after the dissolution in 1857 he was returned again. Amongst other social and political questions in which he took an active interest he was prominent in the agitation for the repeal of the stamp duty on newspapers. He also exerted himself zealously for the repeal of the paper duty, but he died before that important movement was brought to a successful issue. In 1848 Mr. Ingram started a cheap daily paper--the _Morning Telegraph_--upon which he spent a large amount of money. He was, however, before the time in this instance. The era of cheap daily papers had not begun, and after a time the new speculation was abandoned. He was one of the original shareholders of the _Great Eastern_ steamship, and was on board the giant vessel when the accident occurred on her trial trip from the Nore to Portland Harbour. It is a remarkable circ.u.mstance that the dreadful catastrophe in which he lost his life happened on the anniversary of this accident on board the _Great Eastern_.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HERBERT INGRAM, FOUNDER OF THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS.']

In 1860 Mr. Ingram visited America accompanied by his eldest son. They left Liverpool in the _North American_ on the 9th of August, and landed at Quebec in time to witness, after traversing the Lower St. Lawrence, the knocking in of the 'last wedge' of the Victoria Bridge at Montreal by the Prince of Wales. They then went on to Niagara, where they stayed some days. From Niagara Mr. Ingram proceeded to Chicago, intending to cross the prairies, and to follow the Mississippi to New Orleans, and thence to New York, but more especially to Boston, which old a.s.sociations of history had determined him to make the conclusion of his sojourn in the United States. He altered his plans, however, and decided to visit Lake Superior, and to prolong his stay in America, proposing to return to England about the end of October.

Mr. Ingram left Chicago at midnight on the 7th of September, accompanied by his son, in the _Lady Elgin_ steamer, bound on an excursion up Lakes Michigan and Superior. Nearly four hundred persons were on board. The wind blew hard from the north-east, and a heavy sea was running, but no one thought of danger, and there was music and dancing in the saloon.

Thirty miles from Chicago and ten miles from land, about two o'clock on the morning of the 8th, there came a sudden crash. The schooner _Augusta_, sailing at the rate of eleven knots an hour, had struck the _Lady Elgin_ on the midships gangway, and then, having her sails set, and the wind blowing freshly, drifted off in the darkness. At first it was not thought that any serious damage had been done to the steamer, but those on board soon found that she was settling fast. The captain ordered parts of the woodwork of the vessel to be cut adrift to serve as rafts, and made such other provisions as the hurry would allow. In less than half-an-hour the hurricane deck floated off, and the hulk with the machinery went to the bottom with a tremendous noise. When the vessel parted all lights were extinguished, and the unfortunate pa.s.sengers were left struggling amid the waves in total darkness. The steamer sank in three hundred feet of water, the sea was running high, and the land was ten miles away. Some of those who survived to see the dawn were drifted towards the sh.o.r.e on pieces of the wreck, and were drowned in the surf in the sight of hundreds of spectators. Out of 393 persons on board only 114 were saved. Among the drowned were Mr. Ingram and his son. The body of Mr. Ingram was washed ash.o.r.e about sixteen miles from Chicago, and every effort was used to restore animation, but in vain. The body of his son was never found.

The citizens of Chicago were profoundly impressed by the melancholy fate of father and son, so far away from home and friends. Mr. Ingram's remains were escorted from the Brigg's House Hotel to the railway station by a procession of more than eight hundred of the British residents in the neighbourhood. The body was taken to Quebec and conveyed on board the _Bohemian_ steamer, which arrived at Liverpool on the 2nd of October. From thence the remains were removed to Boston, and interred in the new cemetery at Skirbeck, about a mile from the centre of the town. On the day of the funeral all the shops and places of business in Boston were closed, the inhabitants filled the streets and followed the procession up to the gates of the cemetery. It was in every sense a public funeral, and afforded the strongest testimony of the respect in which the memory of the deceased was held by his fellow-townsmen. Two years afterwards, on October 6th, 1862, a statue of Mr. Ingram, raised by public subscription, was unveiled in the market-place at Boston. The life that began in the quaint old Lincolnshire town and ended amid the stormy waters of Lake Michigan, has now an enduring memorial standing not far from the spot where Herbert Ingram was born.

The _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ no sooner became an a.s.sured success than it was imitated. The _Pictorial Times_ was the first compet.i.tor that entered the field, and a very strong literary staff was collected to contend for the new path that had been opened. Douglas Jerrold wrote the leading articles; Thackeray was critic and reviewer, in which capacity he reviewed Macaulay's _Essays_ and Disraeli's _Coningsby_; Mark Lemon was dramatic critic, Peter Cunningham art critic, while Gilbert A'Beckett was the humorous contributor; the managing editor was Henry Vizetelly, and Knight Hunt, author of the _Fourth Estate_, afterwards editor of the _Daily News_, was the sub-editor. One man who has since become famous as a journalist was amongst the artists employed on the new paper. Those who only know Mr. George Augustus Sala as a brilliant writer will be surprised to learn that he is also a facile draughtsman, and was on the artistic staff of the _Pictorial Times_ in 1847. The _Pictorial Times_ was continued for several years, but it never achieved such a measure of success as to become permanently established. A story used to be told in connexion with it which gave some countenance to the popular belief that some of the sketches in ill.u.s.trated newspapers were evolved from the inner consciousness of the artists. I cannot answer for the truth of the anecdote, but I know it served to amuse the world of Bohemia at the time. When the Queen and Prince Albert went first to Scotland, the newspapers in recording the movements of the royal party related, among other things (quoting a Scottish contemporary), that Her Majesty and the Prince had gone one day to 'see the shearing.' The conductors of the _Pictorial Times_ seeing this, and being anxious to present their readers with a perfect record of the royal doings, forthwith set an artist to work to produce a pleasant pastoral scene, with a group of shepherds _shearing their sheep_--not knowing that 'shearing' in Scotland means _cutting the corn_, and forgetting for the moment that sheep-shearing is not usually done in the autumn.

Much energy and capital have been expended on several other attempts to found pictorial journals in London, but most of them failed to secure a profitable footing. _Pen and Pencil_ contained some capital cuts by Linton; and the _Ill.u.s.trated Times_, a threepenny paper, was well done.

The _Ill.u.s.trated News of the World_, in addition to numerous woodcuts, issued portraits engraved on steel. _The Ladies' Newspaper_ was started to fill a supposed void in journalism, but was ultimately absorbed by the _Queen_, in which connexion it still flourishes. The _Ill.u.s.trated Midland News_ was brought out in Manchester, but it could not find in that city and its neighbourhood sufficient sustenance to subsist beyond a brief period. The _Ill.u.s.trated London and Provincial News_ in its t.i.tle endeavoured to attract both town and country, but it only had a short career. While these different ventures were in progress, the _Penny Ill.u.s.trated Paper_ appealed to a lower stratum of the public with great success, and it has now a very large sale, having combined the _Ill.u.s.trated Times_ with its original t.i.tle. In some of these enterprises the promoters appear to have been unable to shake off, in choosing their t.i.tles, the fascinating influence of the word 'ill.u.s.trated.' A joint-stock company broke the spell, and started a paper with the very original t.i.tle of the _Graphic_ on the eve of the great war between France and Germany. It was a most favourable time for establishing a new paper, and the conductors handled the opportunity with great ability and success. The printing and general _get-up_ of the _Graphic_ are excellent, and it has earned for itself a wide popularity.

The _Pictorial World_ was started as a threepenny paper, and after existing several years at that price it became the property of a company and was raised to sixpence. During the Egyptian War it made strenuous efforts to obtain a footing on the same platform with the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ and the _Graphic_. The large lithographic portraits published by the _Pictorial World_ were very good. As the public taste improved under the influence of the pictorial press new fields were opened up for cultivation by the enterprising journalist. The _Ill.u.s.trated Sporting and Dramatic News_ addressed itself not only to the sportsman and actor, but also to that section of the public which finds amus.e.m.e.nt in the incidents and humours of the sporting world and the stage. It has deservedly obtained a good position. The last new comer on the journalistic stage is the _Ladies' Pictorial_, which has recently been enlarged and greatly improved. Its light and elegant contents are well suited to the tastes of its numerous patrons. All the existing ill.u.s.trated papers in London have their publishing offices in the 'Line of Literature,' as Fleet Street and the Strand have been called. In the streets and courts in the neighbourhood are housed numbers of engravers and draughtsmen, who find it mutually convenient to work in the vicinity of the head-quarters of pictorial journalism. Many of the same fraternity consume the midnight oil in distant suburbs, their work gravitating to the great centre in the morning.

All the countries of Europe, the United States, some of the cities of South America, the Colonies of Canada and Australia, have now their ill.u.s.trated newspapers. Some of them supplement their own productions by reproducing the engravings from the English papers, and many have attained a high degree of artistic merit. The American journals are especially noteworthy for their excellent engravings.

[Ill.u.s.tration]

CHAPTER IX.

How an Ill.u.s.trated Newspaper is Produced--Wood-engraving--Boxwood--Blocks for Ill.u.s.trated Newspapers--Rapid Sketching--Drawing on the Block--Method of Dividing the Block for Engraving--Electrotyping--Development of the Printing Machine--Printing Woodcuts--Machinery for Folding Newspapers--Special Artists--Their Dangers and Difficulties--Their Adventures in War and Peace.

In describing the production of a modern pictorial newspaper, I take the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ as the type of its cla.s.s, because it was the first paper of the kind that was ever established. The art of wood-engraving, to which the ill.u.s.trated newspaper owes its existence, has been fully described by competent authors. The best work on the subject is that produced by the late John Jackson in 1839; but since that date the resources of the art have been greatly developed, chiefly through the influence of ill.u.s.trated newspapers.

The material used for wood-engraving is box-wood, which is preferred to all other kinds of wood on account of its close grain, hardness, and light colour. It admits of finer and sharper lines being cut upon it than any other wood, and great quant.i.ties are consumed in producing the engravings of an ill.u.s.trated newspaper. According to Mr. J. R. Jackson, Curator of the Kew Museum, the box-tree is at the present time widely distributed through Europe and Asia, being found abundantly in Italy, Spain, Southern France, and on the coast of the Black Sea, as well as China, j.a.pan, Northern India, and Persia. The box of English growth is so small as to be almost useless for commercial purposes. What is called Turkey box-wood is the best, and this is all obtained from the forests that grow on the Caucasus, and is chiefly shipped at Poti and Rostoff.

The forests extend from thirty to a hundred and eighty miles inland, but many of them are in the hands of the Russian Government and are closed to commerce. Within the last few years a supply of box-wood has been obtained from the forests in the neighbourhood of the Caspian Sea; but Turkey box is becoming dearer every year and inferior in quality. After the wood is cut in the forest, it is brought down on horseback to the nearest river, put on board flat-bottom boats, and floated down to the port of shipment. It arrives in this country either at Liverpool or London, chiefly the former, and is usually in logs about four feet long and eight or ten inches across.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BACK OF A BLOCK, SHOWING THE WAY IN WHICH THE PARTS ARE FASTENED TOGETHER.]

The wood intended for engraving purposes is first carefully selected and then cut up into transverse slices about an inch thick. After being cut, the pieces are placed in racks something like plate-racks, and thoroughly seasoned by slow degrees in gradually heated rooms. This seasoning process ought to last, on an average, four or five years; but the exigencies of trade seldom allow of so long a time. They are then cut into parallelograms of various sizes, the outer portion of the circular section near the bark being cut away, and all defective wood rejected. These parallelograms are then a.s.sorted as to size, and fitted together at the back by bra.s.s bolts and nuts. By this means blocks of any size can be made, and they possess the great advantage of being capable of being taken to pieces after a drawing is made, and distributed among as many engravers as there are pieces in the block.

This invention of making bolted blocks was brought forward just about the time the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_ was started, when large blocks and quick engraving came to be in demand. In the days of the _Penny Magazine_, blocks were made by simply glueing the pieces of wood together, or they were fastened by means of a long bolt pa.s.sing through the entire block.

The cut given on the opposite page represents the back of a half-page block of the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, and shows the way in which the bolts and nuts are used for fastening the different parts of the block together.

For the production of a pictorial newspaper a large staff of draughtsmen and engravers is required, who must be ready at a moment's notice to take up any subject, and, if necessary, work day and night until it is done. The artist who supplies the sketch has acquired by long practice a rapid method of working, and can, by a few strokes of his pencil, indicate a pa.s.sing scene by a kind of pictorial shorthand, which is afterwards translated and extended in the finished drawing. The sketch being completed on paper, the services of the draughtsman on wood come into requisition, for it is not often that the drawing on the block is made by the same person who supplies the sketch. Sometimes the sketch to be dealt with is the production of an amateur, or is so hastily or indifferently done that it has to be remodelled or rearranged in drawing it on the wood. Faulty or objectionable portions have to be left out or subdued, and perhaps a point in the sketch that is quite subordinate, is brought forward and made to form a prominent part of the picture. All this has to be done without doing violence to the general truth of the representation, and with due consideration for the particular conditions of the moment, such as the amount of finish and distribution of light and shade suitable for rapid engraving and printing.

[Ill.u.s.tration: FACSIMILE OF SKETCH: SURRENDER OF SEDAN.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: THE SURRENDER OF SEDAN. FROM THE 'ILl.u.s.tRATED LONDON NEWS,' SEPT. 17, 1870.]

An example of the adaptation of a rapid sketch occurs in the engraving of the surrender of Sedan, published in the _Ill.u.s.trated London News_, September 17, 1870. This sketch, which carries with it the strongest evidence of being taken 'under fire,' came to hand a few hours before the engravings for the current week were to be ready for the printer.

The cream or heart of the sketch, representing an officer waving a white flag over the gate of Sedan attended by a trumpeter, was taken for the subject, while the comparatively unimportant part of the sketch was left out. The drawing was rapidly executed and as rapidly engraved, and was ready for press at the usual time. I give a reduced copy of the engraving, together with a facsimile reduction of the original sketch, which will show the reader the way in which hurried sketches are sometimes adapted to the purposes of a newspaper without at all impairing their original truth.

Sometimes more than one draughtsman is employed on a drawing where the subject consists of figures and landscape, or figures and architecture.