The Illustrated London News, founded by Herbert Ingram and first published on Saturday 14 May 1842, was the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine.[1] The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less frequent publication schedule in 1971, and eventually ceased publication in 2003. The company continues today as Illustrated London News Ltd, a publishing, content, and digital agency in London, which holds the publication and business archives of the magazine.
The Illustrated London News founder Herbert Ingram was born in Boston, Lincolnshire, in 1811, and opened a printing, newsagent, and bookselling business in Nottingham around 1834 in partnership with his brother-in-law, Nathaniel Cooke.[2] As a newsagent, Ingram was struck by the reliable increase in newspaper sales when they featured pictures and shocking stories. Ingram began to plan a weekly newspaper that would contain pictures in every edition.[3]
Ingram rented an office, recruited artists and reporters, and employed as his editor Frederick William Naylor Bayley (1808–1853), formerly editor of the National Omnibus. The first issue of The Illustrated London News appeared on Saturday, 14 May 1842, timed to report on the young Queen Victoria's first masquerade ball.[4] The 16 pages and 32 wood engravings of that first edition covered topics such as the war in Afghanistan, the Versailles rail accident, a survey of the candidates for the US presidential election, extensive crime reports, theatre and book reviews, and a list of births, marriages, and deaths. Ingram hired 200men to carry placards through the streets of London promoting the first edition of his new newspaper.[5]
Jumbo's Journey to the Docks, The Illustrated London News, 1 April 1882
Costing sixpence, the first issue sold 26,000 copies. Despite this initial success, sales of the second and subsequent editions were disappointing. However, Ingram was determined to make his newspaper a success, and sent every clergyman in the country a copy of the edition that contained illustrations of the installation of the Archbishop of Canterbury, and by this means secured a great many new subscribers.
Its circulation soon increased to 40,000, and by the end of its first year was 60,000. In 1851, after the newspaper published Joseph Paxton's designs for the Crystal Palace before even Prince Albert had seen them, the circulation rose to 130,000. In 1852, when it produced a special edition covering the funeral of the Duke of Wellington, sales increased to 150,000. In 1855, mainly due to the newspaper reproducing some of Roger Fenton's pioneering photographs of the Crimean War, and due to the abolition of the Stamp Act that taxed newspapers, it sold 200,000 copies per week.[5]
Competitors soon began to appear. Lloyd's Illustrated Paper was founded later that year, while Reynold's Newspaper opened in 1850. Both were successful Victorian publications, albeit less successful than The Illustrated London News.[6] Andrew Spottiswoode's Pictorial Times lost £20,000 before it was sold to Ingram by Henry Vizetelly, who had left the ILN to found it.[7] Ingram folded it into another purchase, The Lady's Newspaper, which became The Lady's Newspaper and Pictorial Times. Vizetelly was also behind a later competitor, Illustrated Times in 1855, which was similarly bought out by Ingram in 1859.[citation needed]
Ingram's other early collaborators left the business in the 1850s. Nathanial Cooke, his business partner and brother-in-law, found himself in a subordinate role in the business and parted on bad terms around 1854. The departure of William Little was in 1858. In addition to providing a loan of £10,000, he was the printer and publisher of the paper for 15 years. Little's relationship with Ingram deteriorated over Ingram's harassment of their mutual sister-in-law.[2]
Herbert Ingram died on 8 September 1860 in a paddle-steamer accident on Lake Michigan, and he was succeeded as proprietor by his youngest son, William Ingram, who in turn was succeeded by his son, Sir Bruce Ingram (1877–1963) in 1900, who remained as editor until his death.
1860–1900: William and Charles Ingram
By 1863, The Illustrated London News was selling more than 300,000 copies every week, enormous figures in comparison to other British newspapers of the time. The death of Herbert and his eldest son left the company without a director and manager. Control passed to Ingram's widow Ann, and his friend Sir Edward William Watkin, who managed the business for 12 years. Once Ingram's two younger sons, William and Charles, were old enough, they took over as managing directors, although William took the lead.[2]
This was also a period of expansion and increased competition for the ILN. As reading habits and the illustrated news market changed, the ILN bought or established a number of new publications, evolving from a single newspaper to a larger-scale publishing business. As with Herbert Ingram's purchases in the 1850s, this expansion was also an effective way of managing competition – dominating markets and buying out competing ventures. As with the acquisitions of the 1850s, several similar illustrated publications were established in this period by former employees of The Illustrated London News.
Serious competition for the ILN appeared in 1869, with the establishment of The Graphic, a weekly illustrated paper co-founded by William Luson Thomas. Thomas was a former wood engraver for The Illustrated London News, and brought his expertise in illustrated publishing to his new magazine. The Graphic was highly popular, particularly for its coverage of the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, and was well regarded among artists; Vincent van Gogh was a particular admirer.[8]
William Ingram became chief proprietor of The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, est. 1874, and The Lady's Pictorial, which may have been a later title of The Lady's Newspaper and Pictorial Times.[4]The Penny Illustrated Paper, aimed at a working-class readership, was established by the news company shortly after Ingram's death in 1861 in response to the abolition of stamp and paper taxes, which made cheaper publications possible. The Penny Illustrated Paper ran until 1913.[9]
In 1893, the ILN established The Sketch, a sister publication that covered lighter news and society events with the same focus on illustration. From this point, the name of the company changed to the Illustrated London News and Sketch Ltd.
In 1899, ILN editor Clement Shorter left the paper to found his own publication, The Sphere, which published its first issue on 27 January 1900. Ingram and The Illustrated London News responded by establishing a competing magazine, The Spear, which appeared two days before The Sphere on 25 January 1900. The name was deliberately chosen to confuse and siphon off readers, and advertisements for The Sphere emphasised the difference between the magazines: "S-P-H-E-R-E… you may be offered something else you don't want."[10][11]
While editor of the ILN, Clement Shorter had been instrumental in the establishment and publication of The Sketch. In 1903, he established The Tatler as a similar sister publication for The Sphere, with a similar focus on illustrated culture and society news. With the departure of Shorter, the role of editor of the ILN was taken over by Bruce Ingram, the 23-year-old grandson of the paper's founder.
1900–1963: Bruce Ingram
Cover of 20 February 1915 issue
Bruce Ingram was editor of The Illustrated London News and (from 1905) The Sketch, and ran the company for the next 63 years, presiding over some significant changes in the newspaper and the publishing business as a whole.
Photographic and printing techniques were advancing in the later years of the 19th century, and The Illustrated London News began to introduce photos and artwork into its depictions of weekly events. From about 1890, The Illustrated London News made increasing use of photography. The tradition of graphic illustrations continued until the end of World War I. Often, rough sketches of distant events with handwritten explanations were supplied by observers and then worked on by artists in London to produce polished end products for publication. This was particularly the case where popular subjects such as colonial or foreign military campaigns did not lend themselves to clear illustration using the limited camera technology of the period. By the 1920s and 1930s, the pictures that dominated each issue of the magazine were almost exclusively photographic,[12] although artists might still be used to illustrate in pictorial form topics such as budgetary expenditure or the layout of coal mines.[13]
In 1928, a major business merger had Illustrated London News move to new headquarters at Inveresk House, 1 Aldwych, (also known as 364 Strand), London, where The Illustrated London News and The Sketch were united with six of their former competitors under the parent company, Illustrated News Ltd. As eight of the largest titles in illustrated news, these were newly dubbed the 'Great Eight' publications. The Illustrated London News, the flagship publication, was supported by sister publications The Sketch, The Sphere, The Tatler, The Graphic, The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, The Bystander, and Eve.[14] With the exception of The Tatler, these publications remained as part of Illustrated News Ltd. until their closure at various times in the 20th century.
The centenary of The Illustrated London News in 1942 was muted due to wartime conditions, including restrictions on the use of paper. The occasion was marked in the paper with a set of specially commissioned colour photographs of the royal family, including the future Queen Elizabeth.[15] By the time of his death in 1963, Ingram was a major figure in the newspaper industry, and the longest-standing editor of his day.
1963–present
In the postwar period, print publications were gradually displaced from their central position in reporting news events, and circulation began to fall for all the illustrated weeklies. Many of the Great Eight publications were closed down after the Second World War; The Sketch, The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, and The Sphere all ceased publication in these years.
In 1961, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd was bought by International Thomson, headed by Roy Thomson, a Canadian newspaper mogul. The Sphere ceased publication in 1964, while The Tatler was sold in 1968. It was later revived and relaunched in 1977. With circulation figures continuing to fall, The Illustrated London News switched from weekly to monthly publication in 1971, with a new focus on in-depth reporting and selective coverage of world events. This strategy continued into the late 1980s, when the paper reduced its frequency to four issues a year.
In 1985, The Illustrated London News and the archives of the Great Eight publications were sold to Sea Containers, an international transport corporation headed by James Sherwood. Along with the Illustrated London News Group, Sea Containers operated the Orient Express and Great North Eastern Railway, and a range of luxury hotels. As part of this activity, Illustrated London News Group launched a luxury travel and lifestyle magazine, Orient Express.
In 1994, publication of The Illustrated London News was reduced further to two issues a year, and the publishing activity of the Illustrated London News Group focused increasingly on the Orient Express magazine. After publishing its last Christmas number in 2001, The Illustrated London News was relaunched in 2003 under the editorship of Mark Palmer, which ran for one issue before finally ceasing publication for good.
In 2007, The Illustrated London News Group underwent a management buy-out, and was re-established as Illustrated London News Ltd. From 2007, it has continued its activity as an independent content and creative agency. In 2007, the former Orient Express magazine was relaunched as Sphere, a luxury lifestyle and travel magazine. In addition to its independent publications, Illustrated London News Ltd now acts as a content agency for various other luxury and heritage organisations.
Illustrated London News Ltd also manages and curates the newspaper and business archive of The Illustrated London News and the Great Eight publications, publishing short books and magazines of historical content from the Great Eight publication archives. In 2010, Gale digitised the entire back catalogue of The Illustrated London News (1842–2003), and in 2014 began digitalizing the remaining seven publications in the Great Eight.[16][17] To mark the centenary of the First World War in July 2014, ILN Ltd launched illustratedfirstworldwar.com, a free historical resource funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. The entire run of the Great Eight publications between 1914 and 1918 is available on this site.[18]
In May 2024, Illustrated London News Ltd fell into administration and has subsequently appointed Opus Restructuring Llp of 1 Radian Court, Knowlhill, Milton Keynes, MK5 8PJ to wind up the company, bringing nearly 200 years of publication to an end.
Collaborators
Nasser al-Din Shah Qajar on the front page of The Illustrated London News during his last visit to Britain
Note: sources are contradictory in some cases. An alternative listing for the period 1842–59 is 1842–46: F. W. N. Bayley; 1846–52: John Timbs; 1852–59: Charles Mackay[25][26]
Archive
The archives of The Illustrated London News, The Sketch, The Sphere, The Tatler, The Bystander, The Graphic, The Illustrated War News, The Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, and Britannia and Eve are owned by Illustrated London News (ILN) Limited.[27] ILN Ltd also holds company records of the Illustrated London News, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd and the Illustrated London News Group.
In 2010, the entire back catalogue of The Illustrated London News was digitised, and is available online by subscription.[27][28] The entire run of The Illustrated London News between 1914 and 1919 is available for free online.[29]
The archive for 1842 to 2003 can be searched through public libraries in several countries, and is held by Gale Primary Sources.[30][20]
TheGenealogist has a full collection online available from 1842 to 1879 and a number of issues from 1890.[31]
In Jules Verne's fictional Around the World in Eighty Days, The Illustrated London News is referenced as reporting extensively on Phileas Fogg's travel around the world. The paper is mentioned as publishing Fogg's portrait, based on a photo obtained from the Reform Club of which Fogg was a member.
Charles Knight was an English publisher, editor and author. He published and contributed to works such as The Penny Magazine, The Penny Cyclopaedia, and The English Cyclopaedia, and established the Local Government Chronicle.
Henry Richard Vizetelly was a British publisher and writer. He started the publications Pictorial Times and Illustrated Times, wrote several books while working in Paris and Berlin as correspondent for the Illustrated London News, and between 1880 and 1890, ran a publishing house in London, Vizetelly & Company.
The Graphic was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on December 4th, 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd with Thomas's brother, Lewis Samuel Thomas, as a co-founder. The Graphic was set up as a rival to the popular Illustrated London News.
The Daily Graphic: An Illustrated Evening Newspaper was the first American newspaper with daily illustrations. It was founded in New York City in 1873 by Canadian engravers George-Édouard Desbarats and William Leggo, and began publication in March of that year. It continued publication until September 23, 1889.
The Register, originally the South Australian Gazette and Colonial Register, and later South Australian Register, was South Australia's first newspaper. It was first published in London in June 1836, moved to Adelaide in 1837, and folded into The Advertiser almost a century later in February 1931.
The Sphere: An Illustrated Newspaper for the Home and, later, The Sphere: The Empire's Illustrated Weekly, was a British newspaper, published by London Illustrated Newspapers weekly from 27 January 1900 until the closure of the paper on 27 June 1964.
Herbert Ingram was a British journalist and politician. He is considered the father of pictorial journalism through his founding of The Illustrated London News, the first illustrated magazine. He was a Liberal politician who favoured social reform and represented Boston for four years until his early death in the shipwreck of the Lady Elgin.
The Penny Illustrated Paper and Illustrated Times was a cheap (1d.) illustrated London weekly newspaper that ran from 1861 to 1913.
John Latey was a British journalist and writer.
The Sketch was a British illustrated weekly journal. It ran for 2,989 issues between 1 February 1893 and 17 June 1959. It was published by the Illustrated London News Company and was primarily a society magazine with regular features on royalty, aristocracy and high society, as well as theatre, cinema and the arts. It had a high photographic content with many studies of society ladies and their children as well as regular layouts of point to point racing meetings and similar events.
Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, called the Sunday News after 1924, was an early Sunday newspaper in the United Kingdom, launched in 1842 and ceasing publication in 1931.
Edward Lloyd was a British London-based publisher. His early output of serialised fiction brought Sweeney Todd, Varney the Vampire, and many romantic heroes to a new public – those without reading material that they could both afford to buy and enjoy reading. His hugely popular penny dreadful serials earned him the means to move into newspapers.
Frank Leslie's Illustrated Newspaper, later renamed Leslie's Weekly, was an American illustrated literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922. It was one of several magazines started by publisher and illustrator Frank Leslie.
Clement King Shorter was a British journalist and literary critic.
Frederick William Naylor Bayley (1808–1853) was an English miscellaneous writer. He was also known as "Alphabet" Bayley due to his many initials or Omnibus Bayley for a past post as editor of Omnibus.
Tatler is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications. It focuses on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. Targeted towards the British and global upper class and upper-middle class, as well as those interested in society events, its readership is the wealthiest of all Condé Nast's publications.
William Henry Prior was a British painter and engraver known for his depictions of London and its environs. He provided sketches for the Environs of London (1842), and worked for Charles Knight and Henry Vizetelly on the Illustrated Times.
The Illustrated Times Weekly Newspaper was a British newspaper and rival to The Illustrated London News published between 1855 and 1872. The publisher was the Fleet Street bookseller David Bogue and the editor was Henry Vizetelly.
Shurey's Illustrated was a one penny weekly illustrated newspaper launched during the Second Anglo-Boer War. While other illustrated papers launched at the time, such as The Illustrated War News, focused on the war, Shurey's Illustrated also covered other topics, including sports and social events. It was one of a stable of one-penny weekly illustrated papers managed by Charles and Henry Shurey.
Lady's Pictorial was an English women's magazine aimed at middle class audience that was particularly well known in the 1890s. It ran from September 1880 to 26 February 1921, when it merged with Eve: The Lady's Pictorial. It began as a monthly, priced at 3d., and became a weekly issued every Saturday from 5 March 1881, still priced at 3d. In 1884 it was revamped into a larger format at the higher price of 6d. Its price remained 6d. until 1918.
↑ Harrington, Peter (2000). "Pictorial Journalism and the Boer War: the London Illustrated Weeklies". In Gooch, John (ed.). The Boer War: Direction, Experience and Image. Military History and Policy. Vol.7. Routledge (published 3 November 2000). p.231. ISBN978-0714651019.
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