''The Graphic'' was a British weekly illustrated newspaper, first published on 4 December 1869 by William Luson Thomas's company Illustrated Newspapers Ltd. Thomas's brother Lewis Samuel Thomas was a co-founder. The premature death of the latter in 1872 "as one of the founders of this newspaper, nd whotook an active interest in its management" left a marked gap in the early history of the publication. It was set up as a rival to the popular ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

''. The influence of ''The Graphic'' within the art world was immense, its many admirers included

Vincent van Gogh Vincent Willem van Gogh (; 30 March 185329 July 1890) was a Dutch Post-Impressionist painter who posthumously became one of the most famous and influential figures in Western art history. In a decade, he created about 2,100 artworks, inc ...

, and

Hubert von Herkomer Sir Hubert von Herkomer (born as Hubert Herkomer; 26 May 1849 – 31 March 1914) was a Bavarian-born British painter, pioneering film-director, and composer. Though a very successful portrait artist, especially of men, he is mainly remembered fo ...

.Mark Bills, "Thomas, William Luson (1830–1900)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004 It continued to be published weekly under this title until 23 April 1932 and then changed title to ''The National Graphic'' between 28 April and 14 July 1932; it then ceased publication, after 3,266 issues. From 1890 until 1926, Luson Thomas's company, H. R. Baines & Co., published ''The Daily Graphic''.

Background

''The Graphic'' was founded by William Luson Thomas, a successful artist, wood-engraver and social reformer. Earlier he, his brother and his brother-in-law had been persuaded to go to New York and assist in launching two newspapers, ''Picture Gallery'' and ''Republic''. Thomas also had an engraving establishment of his own and, aided by a large staff, illustrated and engraved numerous standard works.Mr William Luson Thomas, Obituary. ''The Times'', Thursday, October 18, 1900; pg. 7; Issue 36276 Exasperated, even angered, by the unsympathetic treatment of artists by the world's most successful illustrated paper, ''

The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...

'', and having a good business sense Luson Thomas resolved to set up an opposition. His illustrated paper, despite being more expensive than its competition, became an immediate success.

Realisation

When it began in 1869, the newspaper was printed in a rented house. By 1882, the company owned three buildings and twenty printing presses, and employed more than 1,000 people. The first editor was Henry Sutherland Edwards. A successful artist himself, the founder Thomas recruited gifted artists including Luke Fildes,

, Frank Holl, and John Everett Millais. ''The Graphic'' was published on a Saturday and its original cover price was sixpence, while the ''Illustrated London News'' was fivepence. In its first year, it described itself to advertisers as "a superior illustrated weekly newspaper, containing twenty-four pages imperial folio, printed on fine toned paper of beautiful quality, made expressly for the purpose and admirably adapted for the display of

engraving Engraving is the practice of incising a design onto a hard, usually flat surface by cutting grooves into it with a burin. The result may be a decorated object in itself, as when silver, gold, steel, or glass are engraved, or may provide an in ...

s". In addition to its home market the paper had subscribers all around the

British Empire The British Empire was composed of the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates, and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. It began with the overseas possessions and trading posts e ...

and North America. ''The Graphic'' covered home news and news from around the Empire, and devoted much attention to literature, arts, sciences, the fashionable world, sport, music and opera. Royal occasions and national celebrations and ceremonials were also given prominent coverage.

Artists

Artists employed on ''The Graphic'' and ''The Daily Graphic'' at the end of the 19th century and beginning of the 20th century included

Helen Allingham Helen Allingham (née Paterson; 26 September 1848 – 28 September 1926) was a British watercolourist and illustrator of the Victorian era. Biography Helen Mary Elizabeth Paterson was born on 26 September 1848, at Swadlincote in Derbyshire, ...

Edmund Blampied Edmund Blampied (30 March 1886 – 26 August 1966) was one of the most eminent artists to come from the Channel Islands, yet he received no formal training in art until he was 15 years old. He was noted mostly for his etchings and drypo ...

Alexander Boyd Alexander Boyd (September 14, 1764 – April 8, 1857) was an American politician and a U.S. Representative from New York. Biography Boyd was born in Albany in the Province of New York. He married Elizabeth Becker and they had thirteen childre ...

, Frank Brangwyn,

Randolph Caldecott Randolph Caldecott (; 22 March 1846 – 12 February 1886) was a British artist and illustrator, born in Chester. The Caldecott Medal was named in his honour. He exercised his art chiefly in book illustrations. His abilities as an artist were pro ...

, Lance Calkin Léon Daviel, John Charles Dollman, James H. Dowd, Godefroy Durand, Luke Fildes,

Harry Furniss Harry Furniss (26 March 185414 January 1925) was a British illustrator. He established his career on the ''Illustrated London News'' before moving to ''Punch''. He also illustrated Lewis Carroll's novel ''Sylvie and Bruno''. Biography Although F ...

, John Percival Gülich,

George du Maurier George Louis Palmella Busson du Maurier (6 March 1834 – 8 October 1896) was a Franco-British cartoonist and writer known for work in ''Punch'' and a Gothic novel ''Trilby'', featuring the character Svengali. His son was the actor Sir Gerald ...

, Phil May, George Percy Jacomb-Hood, Ernest Prater,

Leonard Raven-Hill Leonard Raven-Hill (10 March 1867 – 31 March 1942) was an English artist, illustrator and cartoonist. Life He was born in Bath, Somerset, Bath and educated at Bristol Grammar School and the Devon county school. He studied art at the Lambeth Sc ...

Sidney Sime Sidney Herbert Sime (;1865 – 22 May 1941) — he usually signed his works as S. H. Sime — was an early 20th century English artist, mostly remembered for his fantastic and satirical artwork, especially his story illustrations for Irish f ...

, Snaffles (Charles Johnson Payne),

George Stampa George Loraine Stampa (29 November 1875 – 26 May 1951), also known as G. L. Stampa, was a British artist.Obituary in ''The Times'', ''Mr. G.L. Stampa'', 28 May 1951, p. 6Obituary in ''The Guardian, MR GEORGE L. STAMPA'', London, Monday, May 28 ...

Edmund Sullivan Edmund Joseph Sullivan (1869–1933), usually known as E. J. Sullivan, was a British book illustrator who worked in a style which merged the British tradition of illustration from the 1860s with aspects of Art Nouveau. Life Sullivan was th ...

, Bert Thomas, F. H. Townsend,

Harrison Weir Harrison William Weir (5 May 18243 January 1906), known as "The Father of the Cat Fancy", was a British artist. He organised the first cat show in England, at the Crystal Palace, London, in July 1871. He and his brother, John Jenner Weir, b ...

, and Henry Woods. The notable illustrator Henry William Brewer, contributed a regular illustrated article on architecture to the magazine for 25 years, until his death in 1903.

Writers

Writers for the paper included

George Eliot Mary Ann Evans (22 November 1819 – 22 December 1880; alternatively Mary Anne or Marian), known by her pen name George Eliot, was an English novelist, poet, journalist, translator, and one of the leading writers of the Victorian era. She wrot ...

, Thomas Hardy, H. Rider Haggard and Anthony Trollope.

Malcolm Charles Salaman Malcolm Charles Salaman (6 September 1855 – 22 January 1940) was an English author, journalist and critic. He was born and died in London. Life He was educated at University College School and at Owens College, Manchester. Although he had studi ...

was employed there from 1890 to 1899.

Beatrice Grimshaw Beatrice Ethel Grimshaw (3 February 1870 – 30 June 1953) was an Irish writer and traveller. Beginning in 1903, she worked as a travel writer for the ''Daily Graphic'' and ''The Times'', leading her to move to the Territory of Papua, whe ...

travelled the South Pacific reporting on her experiences for the ''Daily Graphic''.

Mary Frances Billington Mary Frances Billington (6 September 1862 – 27 August 1925) was an English journalist and writer, whose collected articles on women were published as ''Woman in India'' (1895), ''The Red Cross in War'' (1914) and ''The Roll-Call of Serving Wom ...

served the ''Graphic'' as a special correspondent from 1890 to 1897, reporting from India in essays that were compiled into ''Woman in India'' (1895). Joseph Ashby-Sterry wrote the Bystander column for the paper for 18 years.

Weekly topics

* Topics of the Week: 12 paragraphs of

news News is information about current events. This may be provided through many different media: word of mouth, printing, postal systems, broadcasting, electronic communication, or through the testimony of observers and witnesses to events. N ...

coverage. * Amusements: A roundup of activities for the week, for the middle-class reader. * Our illustrations: a summary of all the illustrations in the edition. * Home: a summary of the news in Britain. * Church news * Legal: Trials and Cases of interest to the target reader. * A weekly serial written by popular authors of the time, such as William Black (although this seemed to appear in the 1880s). * Book reviews * A summary of the new developments in science. *

Rural In general, a rural area or a countryside is a geographic area that is located outside towns and cities. Typical rural areas have a low population density and small settlements. Agricultural areas and areas with forestry typically are descri ...

notes: information about the

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and ...

and tips about crops, and other news concerning the rampant unrest of the farm labourers. * New Music: Reviews of the latest music and musicals. * Obituaries: of Church leaders, factory owners, European Royalty, musicians and noteworthy Victorians. * Sport: coverage of football and cricket (with

W.G. Grace William Gilbert Grace (18 July 1848 – 23 October 1915) was an English amateur cricketer who was important in the development of the sport and is widely considered one of its greatest players. He played first-class cricket for a record-equal ...

) * Motoring: c. 1903–1908 Dorothy Levitt, ''The Fastest Girl on Earth'', wrote a column on motoring from the point of view of 'A woman's right to motor'. A collection of her articles formed the basis of the book '' The Woman and the Car: A chatty little handbook for all women who motor or who want to motor'' in 1907/9. There were at least three pages dedicated to advertising, with many adverts for toothpaste, soap products and 'miracle-cure' pills.

Innovations

''The Graphic'' was designed to compete with the ''

'' (established in 1842), and became its most successful rival. Earlier rivals such as 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. Origin ...

'' and the ''

Pictorial Times An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

'' had either failed to compete or been merged with the ''ILN''. It appealed to the same middle-class readership, but ''The Graphic'', as its name suggests, was intended to use images in a more vivid and striking way than the rather staid ''ILN''. To this end it employed some of the most important artists of the day, making an immediate splash in 1869 with ''Houseless and Hungry'', Luke Fildes' dramatic image of the shivering London poor seeking shelter in a workhouse. It is much more difficult to produce and print illustrations than type. Improvements in process work and machinery at the end of the 1880s allowed Luson Thomas to realise a long-cherished project, a daily illustrated paper.

''The Daily Graphic''

On 4 January 1890, Luson Thomas's company, H. R. Baines & Co., commenced publication of the first daily illustrated newspaper in England, which was called ''The Daily Graphic''. It was published until 16 October 1926, when it was incorporated with the '' Daily Sketch''.

Demise

Luson Thomas's seventh son

George Holt Thomas George Holt Thomas (31 March 1869 – 1 January 1929) aviation industry pioneer and newspaper proprietor. Holt Thomas founded, in 1911, the business which became Aircraft Manufacturing Company Limited or Airco. Son and grandson of successful ar ...

was a director of the newspaper company and became general manager. Holt Thomas founded ''

The Bystander ''The Bystander'' was a British weekly tabloid magazine that featured reviews, topical drawings, cartoons and short stories. Published from Fleet Street, it was established in 1903 by George Holt Thomas. Its first editor, William Comyns Beaum ...

'' and later ''Empire Illustrated'' before abandoning newspapers in 1906 and making a greater name for himself in the aviation industry. On 15 August 1932, ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, ...

'' magazine reported the name change to ''The National Graphic'' and editor William Comyns Beaumont of ''The Bystander'' took over, replacing Alan John Bott.''Time Magazine'': "Eight Less One"
August 15, 1925

References

*''Mitchell's Newspaper Press Directory'', 1870 *''The Reference Specialist British Library Newspapers''

External links

* ttp://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/news/victoriannews/index.html Publication dates(British Library website)
''The Graphic''
archives at HathiTrust {{DEFAULTSORT:Graphic, The 1869 establishments in the United Kingdom 1932 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Defunct newspapers published in the United Kingdom Defunct weekly newspapers Publications established in 1869 Publications disestablished in 1932