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THE PICTORIAL PRESS.
[Illustration: HEADING OF 'THE JACOBITE'S JOURNAL,' 1747.
(_Supposed to be Drawn by Hogarth._)
(_See page 197._)]
THE
PICTORIAL PRESS
ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS.
[Illustration]
BY
MASON JACKSON.
With One Hundred and Fifty Illustrations.
LONDON:
HURST AND BLACKETT. PUBLISHERS.
13 GREAT MARLBOROUGH STREET.
1885.
_All Rights reserved._
NOTE.
Some of the chapters of this book in a condensed form were published a
few years ago in the _Illustrated London News_, and my acknowledgments
are due to the proprietors of that journal for permission to reprint
such of the woodcuts as accompanied the text in that form. I have also
to thank them for their courtesy in allowing me to use several other
engravings from the _Illustrated London News_, including some from the
early numbers, which must now be reckoned among the curiosities of the
Pictorial Press.
M. J.
CONTENTS.
PAGE
CHAPTER I. 1
The Pictorial Taste Universal--The Early 'News-books'--Development
of the Newspaper Press--General use of Newspapers--Establishment
of Illustrated Journals--Wandering Ballad-Singers the First
Newsvendors--The _English Mercurie_ of 1588--The Abolition of the
Star Chamber and its Effect on the Press.
CHAPTER II. 8
Illustrated Broadsides--Sir Francis Drake's Operations against the
Spaniards--Papers of News in the Reign of James I.--The first
Periodical Newspaper published in England--Illustrated Tracts
relating to Storms and Floods--Remarkable Murders favourite
subjects with the early Newswriters--Murder of the Rev. Mr.
Storre--Murder in Cornwall--Apparition of Three Skeletons--Visions
in the Air--Attempt on the Life of the Duke of Buckingham--Fall of
Meteors at Bawlkin Green, Berkshire--The _Swedish
Intelligencer_--Passage of the River Leck by Gustavus
Adolphus--The Sallee Rovers--The _Weekly News_ of 1638, an
Illustrated Paper--The Irish Rebellion of 1641--The Plague in
London--Murder on board an English Ship--The Earl of
Strafford--His Execution on Tower Hill--Archbishop Laud--A
Burlesque Play about him--Attack by the Mob on Lambeth
Palace--Caricature of the Devil offering Laud a Cardinal's Hat.
CHAPTER III. 63
Ben Jonson's Ridicule of the Early Newspapers--Fondness of the Old
News-Writers for the Marvellous--The Smithfield Ghost--The
Wonderful Whale--The Newbury Witch--Satirical Tracts and
Caricatures at the Commencement of the Civil War--Religion Tossed
in a Blanket--Caricatures of the Pope and the Bishops--Pluralists
and Patentees--Taylor, the Water Poet--_Mercurius
Aulicus_--Activity of the Pamphleteers--Welshmen
Satirised--Satires on Prince Rupert--On the King and Queen--The
Ladies' Parliament--Illustrated Tracts relating to Social and
Political Subjects--Sir Kenelm Digby's Duel--The King entertained
by the City of London, 1641--Executions in 1641--The Liquor
Traffic and Sunday Closing in 1641--Abuses of the Ecclesiastical
Courts--Ritualism and Nunneries in 1641--Truths enforced by
Lieing--Stage Players and the Plague in 1641--Bartholomew Fair in
1641--Destruction of Charing Cross and Cheapside Cross--Strange
Apparition--Method of enforcing their Views adopted by the Puritan
Pamphleteers--Parodies of Roundhead Sermons--Matthew Hopkins the
Witch-finder--The _Welsh Post_ of 1643--William Lilly the
Astrologer--Three Suns seen in London on the King's Birthday.
CHAPTER IV. 108
The Civil War--Flying Sheets of News--Disturbance at
Kingston-on-Thames--Plot against London--Riotous Proceedings at
York, and Conspiracy in Edinburgh--The House of Commons--The Royal
Standard raised at Nottingham--Battle of Edgehill--Prince
Rupert--The Lord Mayor of London--_Mercurius Civicus_--The
_Scottish Dove_--The _Flying Post_--The _Kingdomes Weekly
Post_--Cruelties of the Cavaliers--The 'Levellers'--The King's
Escape from Oxford--Funeral of the Earl of Essex--The Great Seal
Broken--Fairfax--Cromwell--Sea Fight in the Channel--The Prince of
Wales's Squadron--Mutiny at Norwich--Siege of
Colchester--Execution of Sir Charles Lucas--The King at
Carisbrooke Castle--Execution of the King--Confession of Richard
Brandon.
CHAPTER V. 153
Decrease of Newspapers after the Civil War--_Mercurius
Democritus_--The _Faithful Post_--The _Politique Post_--Broadsides
for the People--The Hollow Tree at Hampstead--Prodigious Monster
taken in Spain--The Restoration--Trial of the Regicides--Execution
of the Regicides--Licenser of the Press appointed--Popular Taste
for the Supernatural--Apparition in the Air in Holland--Revival of
_Mercurius Civicus_--Murder of Archbishop Sharpe--The _Loyal
Protestant_--Frost Fair on the Thames--Monmouth's Rebellion--The
Bloody Assizes--Funeral of Queen Mary, Consort of William
III.--Increase of Newspapers after the Revolution.
CHAPTER VI 180
Constant Attempts at Illustrated News--Increase of
Caricatures--The _Postman_, 1704--Fiery Apparition in the Air,
seen in London--Caricature against the Jacobites--The South-Sea
Bubble--Eclipse of the Sun, 1724--The _Grub Street Journal_ an
Illustrated Paper--The _Daily Post_--Admiral Vernon's Attack on
Porto Bello--The _Penny London Post_--Henry Fielding and the
_Jacobite's Journal_--_Owen's Weekly Chronicle_--_Lloyd's Evening
Post_, and the Trial of Lord Byron for the Murder of Mr.
Chaworth--The _St. James's Chronicle_--Illustrated Account of a
Strange Wild Beast seen in France--The _Gentleman's Journal_ of
Anthony Motteux--The _Gentleman's Magazine_ of Edward Cave--The
_London Magazine_--The _Scot's Magazine_.
CHAPTER VII 219
Revival of Wood-engraving by Thomas Bewick--The _Observer_
started, 1791--The _Times_ an Illustrated Paper--Illustrations of
News in the _Observer_--St. Helena and Napoleon Bonaparte--Abraham
Thornton and the 'Assize of Battle'--Mr. William Clement and
Illustrated Journalism--The Cato Street Conspiracy--Trial of Queen
Caroline--The House of Commons in 1821--Coronation of George
IV.--Royal Visits to Ireland and Scotland--Murder of Mr.
Weare--Illustrations of the Murder in the _Morning Chronicle_, the
_Observer_, and the _Englishman_--_Bell's Life in
London_--Prize-Fight at Warwick--Liston as 'Paul Pry'--'Gallery of
Comicalities,' &c.--_Pierce Egan's Life in London_--Death of the
Duke of York--Death of Mr. Canning--Opening of Hammersmith Bridge,
1827--Mr. Gurney's Steam Coach--The Thames Tunnel--The Murder in
the Red Barn--The Siamese Twins--Death of George IV.--Opening of
New London Bridge, 1831--Coronation of William IV. and Queen
Adelaide--Fieschi's Infernal Machine--Funeral of William
IV.--Queen Victoria's First Visit to the City--Coronation and
Marriage of the Queen--Christening of the Prince of Wales--The
_Weekly Chronicle_--The Greenacre Murder--Mr. Cocking and his
Parachute--The Courtney Riots at Canterbury--Burning of the Tower
of London, 1841--The _Sunday Times_--Burning of the Houses of
Parliament, 1834--The _Champion_--The _Weekly Herald_--The
_Magnet_--Removing the Body of Napoleon I.--The _Penny
Magazine_--Charles Knight--Humorous Journalism of the Victorian
Era.
CHAPTER VIII 284
The _Illustrated London News_--The Early Numbers--The Burning of
Hamburg--Facetious Advertisements--Bal Masque at Buckingham
Palace--Attempted Assassination 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 Illustrated Journals.
CHAPTER IX 315
How an Illustrated Newspaper is
Produced--Wood-Engraving--Boxwood--Blocks for Illustrated
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.
CHAPTER X 355
Artists who have assisted in founding the Pictorial Press--Sir
John Gilbert, R.A., G. H. Thomas, and others--Wood-Engraving and
its Connexion with the Pictorial Press--Other Methods of producing
Illustrations--Wood-Engraving in England before and after Bewick's
time--Its wide Diffusion owing to the kindred Art of Printing--The
resources of the Art developed by Pictorial
Newspapers--Conclusion. Newspapers a Necessity of Civilised
Life--The _Acta Diurna_ of the Romans--Early Newspapers in Venice,
Germany, and the Low Countries--List of Illustrated Newspapers
published Abroad.
THE PICTORIAL PRESS: ITS ORIGIN AND PROGRESS.
CHAPTER I.
The Pictorial Taste Universal--The Early 'News-books'--Development of
the Newspaper Press--General use of Newspapers--Establishment of
Illustrated Journals--Wandering Ballad Singers the First
Newsvendors--The _English Mercurie_ of 1588--The Abolition of the Star
Chamber and its Effect on the Press.
The inherent love of pictorial representation in all races of men and in
every age is manifest by the frequent attempts made to depict natural
objects, under the most unfavourable circumstances and with the
slenderest means. The rude drawing scratched on the smooth bone of an
animal by the cave-dweller of pre-historic times, the painted rocks of
the Mexican forests, and the cave-paintings of the Bushmen, are all
evidences of this deeply-rooted passion. The child of civilised life
looks with delight on his picture-book long before he can make out the
letters of the alphabet, and the untutored Esquimaux treasures up the
stray number of an illustrated newspaper left in his hut by the crew of
some whaling ship, though he cannot understand one word of the printed
page. But the pictures speak a universal language, which requires no
teaching to comprehend.
When the printing-press came into use this love of pictures had a wide
field for development. Some of the first books printed in England were
illustrated with woodcuts, and many of the tracts, or 'News-books,'
which preceded regular newspapers, were adorned with rude engravings. It
mattered not how graphic was the pen, its work was deemed incomplete
without the aid of the pencil. It often happened that the pen was none
the better for the fellowship, but the public taste was not fastidious,
and the work sufficed for the occasion. In tracing the origin and
progress of pictorial journalism we shall find in 'the abstracts and
brief chronicles of the time' many curious illustrations of contemporary
history. The subject is not without interest now that the illustrated
newspaper has become a prominent feature in the journalism of every
country.
The development of the newspaper press and its unrestricted use as the
exponent of public opinion is one of the most interesting signs of
modern progress. When we consider the liberty of thought and action that
prevails in our own day, it is difficult to believe that our forefathers
were liable to the pillory and other degrading punishments when they
ventured to publish their opinions without first obtaining the sanction
of the ruling powers. We are accustomed to the daily exercise of the
right which cost Prynne his ears and brought fines and imprisonment on
Defoe. Newspapers have become almost as necessary to our daily life as
bread itself. The mind demands its breakfast as well as the body; and to
many a busy man the loss of his morning paper would be as great a
deprivation as the want of his usual matutinal meal.
In London, and in all our great centres of population, the newspaper has
become the unfailing accompaniment of the City man's journey to
business. At the railway stations journals of every kind tempt the
loitering passenger, while the illustrated papers appeal to him in a
language of their own. Whether in the railway carriage, the omnibus, or
the steam-boat, the newspaper is eagerly conned, and its contents form
the food of conversation. Most of these newspapers are cast aside at the
end of the twenty minutes' or half hour's journey; and then, at second
hand, they amuse the leisure moments of the railway porter, or, better
still, they are collected together, and perhaps serve to solace the sick
poor during many lingering hours in hospitals and refuges. Day by day
the demand is made, and the supply is ready. The printing-machine never
sleeps and is never tired. Its voice is one of the voices of the
night--most unmusical, yet with a mysterious meaning. The daily
newspaper, so potent in diffusing the light of knowledge, is itself the
offspring of darkness. The busy brains and active fingers which create
it turn night into day in the execution of their quickly recurring
tasks, and with unflagging energy they labour on, that the slumbering
world may be properly amused and instructed when it wakes.
The intelligent foreigner who happens to reach our southern coast on a
Monday morning in summer or autumn, and travels to London by one of the
early trains, is astonished, when the train stops, to see most of the
gentlemen rush from the carriages and surround a small boy, whom they
appear to hustle and threaten with violent gesticulations. The boy
appears to buy off the hostility of his assailants by dealing out to
each a paper, which he takes from a large bundle under his arm, and with
which the appeased passenger returns to his carriage. Cries of '_Times!_
_Daily News!_ _Telegraph!_ _Standard!_--Here, give us one--anything!'
reach the ears of the wondering stranger, who beholds the boy at length
take refuge in an empty railway carriage on the opposite side of the
platform, and from that place of vantage he continues to deal out the
mysterious papers. After a time the intelligent foreigner learns that
these are the London papers of that morning, which are sent out to meet
the trains, and are eagerly bought by the gentlemen who have been
spending from Saturday to Monday at the seaside, and, having fasted from
all newspapers during that time, they are now of course famishing for
news. Such is their eagerness that politics are thrown to the winds. The
Conservative will put up with a Liberal newspaper rather than have none
at all; and he whose ill luck or inertness has left him without the
coveted sheet is glad to borrow of his neighbour, that he may not be
walking in the darkness of ignorance when he arrives at his place of
business. As the train moves off, the intelligent foreigner, if he
thrusts his head out of the carriage window, may behold in the distance
the newsboy pensively counting his gains and endeavouring to make his
receipts tally with the number of papers that have vanished.
One of the most remarkable phases of newspaper history has been the
establishment of illustrated journals. Though this idea, in an immature
form, is as old as the newspaper itself, yet it was never fully
developed till the late Mr. Herbert Ingram brought out the _Illustrated
London News_ in 1842. Since that time the removal of the newspaper stamp
and the repeal of the paper duty have imparted a freedom and a vigour to
newspaper enterprise previously unknown. Journals of all kinds have
sprung into existence, and cheapness has become the rule. Penny and even
halfpenny papers compete with the leading journals in activity and
enterprise. No expense is spared in obtaining the earliest and most
authentic intelligence. Correspondents are sent to every part of the
world where any information is to be gleaned, and the presence of the
newspaper 'Special' is now expected at every great event. Each class has
its organ, and 'he who runs may read.'
When we consider the immense amount of printed matter that is published
every day by the newspapers, we cannot but wonder at the public
appetite. And this appetite is fed from one year to another upon a diet
that is only varied when there occurs a war, a revolution, an unusually
disastrous shipwreck, or a murder of uncommon atrocity. Then the
monotony of ordinary life gives place to the temporary excitement. There
is a run upon the newspapers, which are as susceptible as barometers,
and rise or fall according to the state of public feeling. The
calamities of nations and the misfortunes of individuals are sources of
profit and prosperity to the newspaper.
It was a happy idea to gather together the principal events of the week,
to illustrate them with authentic pictures, and place them before the
public in the form of a pictorial newspaper. Considering the great cost
of production, and the restrictions under which newspapers lay at that
time, to say nothing of the difficulty of bringing out news with
appropriate illustrations, so that both should be fresh, the
_Illustrated London News_ was a bold undertaking. Like most things that
are successful, it soon had many imitators, and there are now few large
cities in the civilised world that have not their illustrated
newspapers.
But the full development of illustrated journalism was immediately
preceded by many significant symptoms. Several of the then existing
newspapers, on the occurrence of any unusual or interesting event,
introduced into their pages rough woodcut illustrations. A great fire--a
remarkable murder--a fatal balloon ascent--these were the subjects
seized upon at the moment to satisfy the public craving for illustrated
news. All this seems to have been the working of an impulse or instinct
which existed even before the days of newspapers; for, as I shall
presently show, attempts were made to illustrate the news of the hour in
tracts or 'News-books' before the beginning of regular newspapers in
England. The idea of illustrated journalism may be traced from the
earliest years of the seventeenth century to 1842, the date of the first
number of the _Illustrated London News_. The art of wood-engraving had
fallen very low in the seventeenth century, and the illustrations to be
found in early newspapers are mostly of a very rude description; but
they show the existence of a germ which eventually grew into full and
flourishing life.
The English newspaper, like many other great inventions, was a thing of
gradual growth. The news that was sung or recited by wandering
ballad-singers at the village cross, or in the court-yard of the
squire's mansion, and the written newsletter furnished to the wealthy
aristocracy, were the precursors of the early news-books and the
periodical sheets of news. As the art of printing extended, many of the
productions of the press assumed the character of news to attract
readers. Sermons, satires, and travels, were all put forward under the
name of _news_, and sometimes a single grain of truth was deemed
sufficient to leaven a whole bushel of fiction. Most of these
publications were small tracts, and published at irregular intervals.
Some of them were adorned with engravings on the title-pages, which show
that even at this early period the authors or printers of these papers
were imbued with the pictorial spirit. The idea of illustrating current
events had already taken root, and we find examples of it long before
the establishment of regular newspapers.
The earliest form of the newspaper is known to have come into existence
during times of war and tumult, and it was for a long time believed that
the first English newspaper was brought forth under similar
circumstances. But when the _English Mercurie_ of 1588 was proved to be
a forgery, the enthusiast in newspaper history received a heavy blow and
sad discouragement. It seemed so highly probable, when this country was
threatened with the descent of the Spanish Armada, that something like a
newspaper might have sprung into existence, that people were only too
ready to adopt the imposture. When the whole nation was greatly excited
and anxious to learn something about the reality of their danger,
nothing was more natural than for the sagacious minister of Queen
Elizabeth to appeal to the people through the printing-press, and by its
means endeavour to calm the public mind by circulating printed sheets of
intelligence, 'for the contradiction of false reports.' But we were
compelled to admit that Lord Burleigh had missed his opportunity, and
neglected to use the most powerful means for exciting the patriotism or
allaying the fears of his countrymen. The author of this remarkable
imposition showed great skill and acuteness in constructing his false
newspaper, and fixing the date of its supposed publication. The forgery
has been attributed to Lord Hardwick; but what were his motives it is
difficult to understand. Unlike Chatterton and Ireland, he never
brought his imposture before the world, and if he intended it merely for
an antiquarian _jeu-d'esprit_ he had the enjoyment of the joke entirely
to himself.
The abolition of the Star Chamber, in 1641, was an important event for
the press of this country. The so-called newspapers then began to print
English news and discuss home affairs, no longer dreading the fines,
imprisonments, and mutilations, that had been so liberally dispensed by
that obnoxious tribunal. There was not, however, any considerable
increase in the number of newspapers till the Civil War reached its
height. During that remarkable contest many hundreds of tracts and
newspapers were published, some of them numbered consecutively and
published at regular intervals; but the great majority bore no
continuous title, and treated of one subject only. During the reigns of
Charles II. and James II. the press was more or less under a censorship,
from which it was not emancipated till the seventh year of William III.
Lord Macaulay dates the commencement of English newspapers from this
period, when a great many new journals made their appearance. They
included political news amongst their contents; and they more nearly
resembled in character, but not in appearance, what we now understand by
a newspaper than anything that had preceded them. This press revival was
not accompanied by any corresponding activity in the direction of
pictorial illustration. Art of every kind was in a low condition in
England at this time. Even if the art of popular illustration had been
better understood, the means of production were exceedingly limited.
Newspapers multiplied greatly, but illustrated journalism had to
struggle with difficulties, and its existence was only made known by the
occasional appearance of a rough woodcut or an indifferent
copper-plate.