The ''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' was a British weekly

magazine A magazine is a periodical literature, periodical publication, print or digital, produced on a regular schedule, that contains any of a variety of subject-oriented textual and visual content (media), content forms. Magazines are generally fin ...

founded in 1874 and published in London. In 1945 it changed its name to the ''Sport and Country'', and in 1957 to the ''Farm and Country'', before closing in 1970.

History

The ''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' was founded in 1874. The paper covered, as its title indicates, both sporting and theatrical events, including news and criticism. It also contained original pieces of fiction in serials and a story or two in each issue. There were numerous similar publications in Britain at the time, including the ''

Illustrated London News ''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. The magazine was published weekly for most of its existence, switched to a less freq ...

'', which shared its address and some illustrators with the magazine.Victorian Illustrated Newspapers and Journals: Select list
at

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom. Based in London, it is one of the largest libraries in the world, with an estimated collection of between 170 and 200 million items from multiple countries. As a legal deposit li ...

web site, accessed 5 December 2008 In 1883, the paper published a cartoon showing

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Fflahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish author, poet, and playwright. After writing in different literary styles throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular and influential playwright ...

in convict dress, which was considered at the time to be a very serious slur. Twelve years later, Wilde was convicted of "

gross indecency Gross indecency is a crime in some parts of the English-speaking world, originally used to criminalize sexual activity between men that fell short of sodomy, which required penetration. The term was first used in British law in a statute of the ...

" and sentenced to two years

penal labour Penal labour is a term for various kinds of forced labour that prisoners are required to perform, typically manual labour. The work may be light or hard, depending on the context. Forms of sentence involving penal labour have included in ...

. The paper is a good source of illustrations from sporting and theatre events, such as images of

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

. Notable illustrators included Louis Wain, Frank R. Grey, D. H. Friston, Alfred Concanen and Alfred Bryan. In 1920, its address was 172,

Strand Strand or The Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * ...

, London WC 2. Notable editors included James Wentworth Day, who served in the post between 1935 and 1937. The magazine's published fiction included

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most fam ...

's short piece, ''Actors, Authors and Audiences'' in 1880's ''Holly Leaves'', its annual

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

special,

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912), better known by his pen name Bram Stoker, was an Irish novelist who wrote the 1897 Gothic horror novel ''Dracula''. The book is widely considered a milestone in Vampire fiction, and one of t ...

's ''The Squaw'' (1893) and ''Crooken Sands'' (1894),

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English people, English author known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving ...

's story ''The Unbreakable Alibi'' in ''Holly Leaves'' of 1928, and her ''Sing a Song of Sixpence'' in the following year's ''Holly Leaves''. The Irish

chess Chess is a board game for two players. It is an abstract strategy game that involves Perfect information, no hidden information and no elements of game of chance, chance. It is played on a square chessboard, board consisting of 64 squares arran ...

grand master

George Alcock MacDonnell George Alcock MacDonnell (16 August 1830 in Dublin – 3 June 1899 in London) was an Anglican clergyman as well as a chess master and writer. He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 (the 5th British Chess Congress, Adolf Anderssen won), won two match ...

wrote a regular chess column under the name of ''Mars''. According to a ''Catalogue of Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum'', the

holds copies of the paper from 28 February 1874. The

University of Wisconsin–Madison The University of Wisconsin–Madison (University of Wisconsin, Wisconsin, UW, UW–Madison, or simply Madison) is a public land-grant research university in Madison, Wisconsin, United States. It was founded in 1848 when Wisconsin achieved st ...

has all but three of the first twenty-five volumes in its English and Irish Periodicals collection.English and Irish Periodicals Published 1800-1914
at library.wisc.edu, accessed 5 December 2008

Titles and issues

*''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'': 28 February 1874 to 22 January 1943, Nos. 1 to 3576 *''Sport and Country'': 5 February 1943 to 16 October 1957, Nos. 3577 to 3958 *''Farm and Country'': 30 October 1957 to December 1970, Nos. 3959 to 4200 *''Holly Leaves'': the Christmas edition of the titles, issued 1880 to 1969

References

External links

{{Italic title
''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News''
at the British Online Archives
''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News''
at the

British Newspaper Archive The British Newspaper Archive website provides access to searchable digitized archives of British and Irish newspapers. It was launched in November 2011. History The British Library's Newspapers section was based in Colindale in north London ...

Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1874 Magazines disestablished in 1970 Magazines published in London

History

Titles and issues

See also

References

External links