''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 Royalty may refer to: * the mystique/prestige bestowed upon monarchs ** one or more monarchs, such as kings, queens, emperors, empresses, princes, princesses, etc. *** royal family, the immediate family of a king or queen-regnant, and sometimes h ...

aristocracy Aristocracy (; ) is a form of government that places power in the hands of a small, privileged ruling class, the aristocracy (class), aristocrats. Across Europe, the aristocracy exercised immense Economy, economic, Politics, political, and soc ...

and

high society High society, sometimes simply Society, is the behavior and lifestyle of people with the highest levels of wealth, power, fame and social status. It includes their related affiliations, social events and practices. Upscale social clubs were open ...

, as well as

theatre Theatre or theater is a collaborative form of performing art that uses live performers, usually actors to present experiences of a real or imagined event before a live audience in a specific place, often a Stage (theatre), stage. The performe ...

, cinema and

the arts The arts or creative arts are a vast range of human practices involving creative expression, storytelling, and cultural participation. The arts encompass diverse and plural modes of thought, deeds, and existence in an extensive range of m ...

. 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.

Clement Shorter Clement King Shorter (19 July 1857 – 19 November 1926) was a British journalist and literary critic. After editing the '' Illustrated London News'', Shorter founded and edited ''Sketch'', '' The Sphere'', and '' Tatler''. Biography Cleme ...

and William Ingram started ''The Sketch'' in 1893. Shorter was the first editor, from 1893 to 1900, succeeded by John Latey (until his death in 1902) and then Keble Howard.Philip Waller, ''Writers, Readers, and Reputations: Literary Life in Britain 1870–1918'', pp. 351–2 Bruce Ingram was editor from 1905 to 1946. The magazine is remembered for first publishing the illustrations of Bonzo the dog by George E. Studdy (from 1921). It featured series of short stories within its pages, one per issue, with authors such as

Walter de la Mare Walter John de la Mare (; 25 April 1873 – 22 June 1956) was an English poet, short story writer and novelist. He is probably best remembered for his works for children, for his poem "The Listeners", and for his psychological horror short fi ...

and

Algernon Blackwood Algernon Henry Blackwood, CBE (14 March 1869 – 10 December 1951) was an English broadcasting narrator, journalist, novelist and short story writer, and among the most prolific ghost story writers in the history of the genre. The literary cr ...

. Under the editorship of Bruce Ingram, it was also the first magazine to publish short stories by

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 ...

, starting with " The Affair at the Victory Ball" in issue 1571 on 7 March 1923. Altogether, Christie wrote 49 stories for ''The Sketch'' between 1923 and 1924 (just under a third of her total output of short stories) which were later collected into some or all of the contents of the volumes ''

Poirot Investigates ''Poirot Investigates'' is a short story collection written by English author Agatha Christie and first published in the UK by The Bodley Head in March 1924.''The English Catalogue of Books''. Vol XI (A-L: January 1921 – December 1925). Krau ...

'' (1924), '' The Big Four'' (1927), '' Partners in Crime'' (1929), '' Poirot's Early Cases'' (1974), and '' While the Light Lasts and Other Stories'' (1997). Christie dedicated the 1953 novel '' A Pocket Full of Rye'' to Ingram. ''The Sketch'' printed photographs by

Howard Coster Howard Sydney Musgrave Coster (27 April 1885 – 17 November 1959) was a British photographer, opening a London studio in 1926. He was a self-styled 'Photographer of Men'. Collections After a childhood in the Isle of Wight, he was introduced t ...

, and illustrations by H. M. Bateman,

Max Beerbohm Sir Henry Maximilian Beerbohm (24 August 1872 – 20 May 1956) was an English essayist, Parody, parodist and Caricature, caricaturist under the signature Max. He first became known in the 1890s as a dandy and a humorist. He was the theatre crit ...

, Edmund Blampied, Percy Venner Bradshaw (1877–1965), Thomas Arthur Browne, Hilda Cowham, Annie Fish, John Hargrave, John Hassall, Phil May, Bernard Partridge, Melton Prior, W. Heath Robinson,

Josep Segrelles Josep is a Catalan masculine given name equivalent to Joseph (Spanish ''José''). People named Josep include: * Josep Bargalló (born 1958), Catalan philologist and former politician * Josep Bartolí (1910-1995), Catalan painter, cartoonist and ...

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 ...

, Olive Snell, Bert Thomas, and Thomas Downey. Writers included Carleton Allen, Lucie Armstrong, Nora Hopper,

William Robertson Nicoll Sir William Robertson Nicoll (10 October 18514 May 1923) was a Scottish Free Church of Scotland (1843-1900), Free Church minister (religion), minister, journalist, editor in chief, editor, and man of letters. Biography Nicoll was born in Lums ...

and John Courtenay Trewin. Keble Howard, editor until 1905, continued to contribute a column titled ''Motley Notes'' until two-weeks prior to his death, his final piece appearing on 14 March 1928. The

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 ...

holds a complete run of ''The Sketch''.

References

External links

Online archives of ''The Sketch''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Sketch 1893 establishments in the United Kingdom 1959 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Visual arts magazines published in the United Kingdom Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1893 Magazines disestablished in 1959