''Vanity Fair'' was a British weekly magazine that was published from 1868 to 1914. Founded by

Thomas Gibson Bowles Thomas Gibson Bowles (15 January 1841 – 12 January 1922) was a British politician and publisher. He founded the magazines '' The Lady'' and '' Vanity Fair'', and became a Member of Parliament in 1892. He was also the maternal grandfather o ...

in London, the magazine included articles on fashion, theatre, current events as well as word games and serial fiction. The cream of the period's "society magazines", it is best known for its witty prose and

caricature A caricature is a rendered image showing the features of its subject in a simplified or exaggerated way through sketching, pencil strokes, or other artistic drawings (compare to: cartoon). Caricatures can be either insulting or complimentary, ...

s of famous people of

Victorian Victorian or Victorians may refer to: 19th century * Victorian era, British history during Queen Victoria's 19th-century reign ** Victorian architecture ** Victorian house ** Victorian decorative arts ** Victorian fashion ** Victorian literatur ...

and

Edwardian In the United Kingdom, the Edwardian era was a period in the early 20th century that spanned the reign of King Edward VII from 1901 to 1910. It is commonly extended to the start of the First World War in 1914, during the early reign of King Ge ...

society, including artists, athletes, royalty, statesmen, scientists, authors, actors, business people and scholars. Taking its title from Thackeray's popular satire on early 19th-century British society, ''Vanity Fair'' was not immediately successful and struggled with competition from rival publications. Bowles then promised his readers "Some Pictorial Wares of an entirely novel character", and on 30 January 1869, a full-page caricature of

Benjamin Disraeli Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield (21 December 1804 – 19 April 1881) was a British statesman, Conservative Party (UK), Conservative politician and writer who twice served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. He played a ...

appeared. This was the first of over 2,300 caricatures to be published. According to the

National Portrait Gallery National Portrait Gallery may refer to: * National Portrait Gallery (Australia), in Canberra * National Portrait Gallery (Sweden), in Mariefred *National Portrait Gallery (United States), in Washington, D.C. *National Portrait Gallery, London ...

in London, "''Vanity Fairs illustrations, instantly recognizable in terms of style and size, led to a rapid increase in demand for the magazine. It gradually became a mark of honour to be the 'victim' of one of its numerous caricaturists. Bowles's witty accompanying texts, full of insights and innuendoes, certainly contributed towards the popularity of these images".

History

Subtitled "A Weekly Show of Political, Social and Literary Wares", it was founded in 1868 by

, who aimed to expose the contemporary vanities of

society. Colonel Fred Burnaby provided £100 of the original £200 capital, and inspired by Thackeray's popular satire on early 19th-century British society suggested the title ''Vanity Fair''. The first issue appeared in London on 7 November 1868. It offered its readers articles on fashion, current events, the theatre, books, social events and the latest scandals, together with serial fiction,

word game Word games are spoken, board, card or video games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties. Word games are generally used as a source of entertainment, but can additionally serve an educational purpose. Young ...

s and other trivia. Bowles wrote much of the magazine himself under various pseudonyms, such as "Jehu Junior", but contributors included

Lewis Carroll Charles Lutwidge Dodgson (27 January 1832 – 14 January 1898), better known by his pen name Lewis Carroll, was an English author, poet, mathematician, photographer and reluctant Anglicanism, Anglican deacon. His most notable works are ''Alice ...

, Arthur Hervey,

Willie Wilde William Charles Kingsbury Wilde (26 September 1852 – 13 March 1899) was an Irish journalist and poet of the Victorian era. He was the older brother of Oscar Wilde. Background Willie was the oldest son born into an Anglo-Irish family, at 21 ...

Jessie Pope Jessie Pope (19 March 1868 – 14 December 1941) was an English poet, writer, and journalist, who remains best known for her patriotic, motivational poems published during World War I.''Minds at War'' the Poetry and Experience of the First worl ...

P. G. Wodehouse Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse ( ; 15 October 1881 – 14 February 1975) was an English writer and one of the most widely read humorists of the 20th century. His creations include the feather-brained Bertie Wooster and his sagacious valet, Je ...

(who also wrote for the unrelated Condé Nast magazine of the same name) and

Bertram Fletcher Robinson Bertram Fletcher Robinson (22 August 1870 – 21 January 1907) was an English sportsperson, sportsman, journalist, editor, author and Liberal Unionist Party activist. During his life-time, he wrote at least three hundred items, including a ser ...

(who was editor from June 1904 to October 1906). Lewis Carroll created a series of word ladder puzzles, which he then called "Doublets", which first appeared in the 29 March 1879 issue.

Thomas Allinson Thomas Richard Allinson (29 March 1858 – 29 November 1918) was an English physician, dietetic reformer, businessman, journalist and vegetarianism activist. He was a proponent of wholemeal (whole grain) bread consumption. His name is still use ...

bought the magazine in 1911 from

Frank Harris Frank Harris (14 February 1856 – 26 August 1931) was an Irish-American editor, novelist, short story writer, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day. Born in Ireland, he emigrated to the United State ...

, by which time it was failing financially. He failed to revive it and the final issue of ''Vanity Fair'' appeared on 5 February 1914, after which it was merged into ''Hearth and Home''.

Caricatures

A full-page, colour lithograph of a contemporary celebrity or dignitary appeared in most issues, and it is for these

s that ''Vanity Fair'' is best known then and today. Subjects included artists, athletes, royalty, statesmen, scientists, authors, actors, soldiers, religious personalities, business people and scholars. More than two thousand of these images appeared, and they are considered the chief cultural legacy of the magazine, forming a pictorial record of the period. They were produced by an international group of artists, including Sir

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 ...

, Sir

Leslie Ward Sir Leslie Matthew Ward (21 November 1851 – 15 May 1922) was a British portrait artist and caricaturist who over four decades painted 1,325 portraits which were regularly published by ''Vanity Fair (British magazine), Vanity Fair'', under th ...

(who signed his work "Spy" and "Drawl"), the Italians Carlo Pellegrini ("Singe" and "Ape"), Melchiorre Delfico ("Delfico"),

Liborio Prosperi Liborio Prosperi ('Lib') Liberio Prosperi (Foligno, Papal States 1854 – Foligno, 1928), was a Papal States-born artist who belonged to a group of international artists producing caricatures for the British '' Vanity Fair'' magazine. He contrib ...

("Lib"), the Florentine artist and critic

Adriano Cecioni Adriano Cecioni (July 26, 1836May 23, 1886) was an Italian artist, caricaturist, and critic associated with the Macchiaioli group. Biography He was born in Florence into a middle-class family belonging to the local gentry. He began his artistic ...

, the French artists

James Tissot Jacques Joseph Tissot (; 15 October 1836 – 8 August 1902), better known as James Tissot ( , ), was a French painter, illustrator, and caricaturist. He was born to a drapery merchant and a milliner and decided to pursue a career in art at a y ...

("Coïdé"),

Prosper d'Épinay Charles Adrien Prosper Caïez d'Épinay (13 July 1836 – 23 September 1914) was a French sculptor and caricaturist (under the name Nemo). Many of his clients were from the nobility and royalty. He was sometimes referred to as the "sculpteur de so ...

("Nemo") and the American

Thomas Nast Thomas Nast (; ; September 26, 1840December 7, 1902) was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist often considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was a sharp critic of William M. Tweed, "Boss" Tweed and the T ...

Image gallery

File:James Hamilton, Vanity Fair, 1869-09-25.jpg, The Duke of Abercorn by Carlo Pellegrini ("Ape") in the 25 September 1869 issue File:Benjamin Disraeli, Vanity Fair, 1869-01-30.jpg,

by Carlo Pellegrini in the 30 January 1869 issue File:Nawab of Bengal.jpg, Mansur Ali Khan of Bengal by Alfred Thompson ("Ἀτη") in the 16 April 1870 issue File:William Thomson, Vanity Fair, 1871-06-24.jpg, William Thomson, Archbishop of York, by Carlo Pellegrini in the 24 June 1871 issue File:VanityFair-Darwin2.jpg,

Charles Darwin Charles Robert Darwin ( ; 12 February 1809 – 19 April 1882) was an English Natural history#Before 1900, naturalist, geologist, and biologist, widely known for his contributions to evolutionary biology. His proposition that all speci ...

("Coïdé") in the 30 September 1871 issue File:MidhatPashaVanityFair.jpg, Caricature of

Midhat Pasha Ahmed Şefik Midhat Pasha (; 1822 – 26 April 1883) was an Ottoman politician, reformist, and statesman. He was the author of the Constitution of the Ottoman Empire. Midhat was born in Istanbul and educated from a private . In July 1872, he ...

("Spy") in the 30 June 1877 issue File:Thomas Hardy Vanity Fair 1892-06-04.jpg,

Thomas Hardy Thomas Hardy (2 June 1840 – 11 January 1928) was an English novelist and poet. A Literary realism, Victorian realist in the tradition of George Eliot, he was influenced both in his novels and in his poetry by Romanticism, including the poetry ...

caricature by Leslie Ward in the 4 June 1892 issue File:Carlo Pelligrini-Richard Owen Old Bones.jpg, Captioned "Old Bones", caricature of an elderly

Richard Owen Sir Richard Owen (20 July 1804 – 18 December 1892) was an English biologist, comparative anatomy, comparative anatomist and paleontology, palaeontologist. Owen is generally considered to have been an outstanding naturalist with a remarkabl ...

in 1873 File:Alexandre Dumas01.jpg, Alexandre Dumas ''fils'' by

Théobald Chartran Théobald Chartran (20 July 1849 – 16 July 1907) was a French academic Painting, painter and portrait artist. Early life Chartran was born in Besançon, France on 20 July 1849. His father was Councilor at the Court of Appeals and he was the ne ...

in the 27 December 1879 issue File:Portrait of 'Steel' (4671260).jpg, Captioned "Steel", Sir

Henry Bessemer Sir Henry Bessemer (19 January 1813 – 15 March 1898) was an English inventor, whose steel-making process would become the most important technique for making steel in the nineteenth century for almost one hundred years. He also played a sig ...

by Leslie Ward in the 6 November 1880 issue File:Joseph Rudyard Kipling, Vanity Fair, 1894-06-07.jpg,

Rudyard Kipling Joseph Rudyard Kipling ( ; 30 December 1865 – 18 January 1936)''The Times'', (London) 18 January 1936, p. 12. was an English journalist, novelist, poet, and short-story writer. He was born in British Raj, British India, which inspired much ...

by Leslie Ward on 7 June 1894 File:Paul kruger00a.jpg, President

Paul Kruger Stephanus Johannes Paulus Kruger (; 10 October 1825 – 14 July 1904), better known as Paul Kruger, was a South African politician. He was one of the dominant political and military figures in 19th-century South Africa, and State Preside ...

of the

South African Republic The South African Republic (, abbreviated ZAR; ), also known as the Transvaal Republic, was an independent Boer republics, Boer republic in Southern Africa which existed from 1852 to 1902, when it was annexed into the British Empire as a result ...

by Leslie Ward in the 8 March 1900 issue File:Christabel Pankhurst Vanity Fair 15 June 1910.jpg, Suffragette

Christabel Pankhurst Dame Christabel Harriette Pankhurst (; 22 September 1880 – 13 February 1958) was a British suffragette born in Manchester, England. A co-founder of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU), she directed Suffragette bombing and arson ca ...

in the 15 June 1910 issue File:Queen Alexandra, Vanity Fair, 1911-06-07.jpg,

Queen Alexandra Alexandra of Denmark (Alexandra Caroline Marie Charlotte Louise Julia; 1 December 1844 – 20 November 1925) was List of British royal consorts, queen-consort of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Empress of India, from 22 Januar ...

(unsigned) in the 7 June 1911 issue File:William-gillette-sherlock-holmes.jpg,

William Gillette William Hooker Gillette (July 24, 1853 – April 29, 1937) was an American actor-manager, playwright, and stage manager in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He is best remembered for portraying Sherlock Holmes on stage and in a 191 ...

playing

Sherlock Holmes Sherlock Holmes () is a Detective fiction, fictional detective created by British author Arthur Conan Doyle. Referring to himself as a "Private investigator, consulting detective" in his stories, Holmes is known for his proficiency with obser ...

, drawn by Leslie Ward in the 27 February 1907 issue File:Henrik Ibsen Vanity Fair 1901-12-12.jpg,

Henrik Ibsen Henrik Johan Ibsen (; ; 20 March 1828 – 23 May 1906) was a Norwegian playwright, poet and actor. Ibsen is considered the world's pre-eminent dramatist of the 19th century and is often referred to as "the father of modern drama." He pioneered ...

by "Snapp" in the 12 December 1901 issue File:Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) from Vanity Fair Issue 812, April 1884..jpg,

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 ...

by Carlo Pellegrini in issue 812, April 1884 File:Horace Gordon Hutchinson, Vanity Fair, 1890-07-19.jpg, Caricature of golfer

Horace Hutchinson Horatio Gordon "Horace" Hutchinson (16 May 1859 – 27 July 1932) was an English amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hutchinson won the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He had three top-10 finishes in ...

by Leslie Ward on 19 July 1890 File:Henry Irving Vanity Fair.jpg, Caricature of

Henry Irving Sir Henry Irving (6 February 1838 – 13 October 1905), christened John Henry Brodribb, sometimes known as J. H. Irving, was an English stage actor in the Victorian era, known as an actor-manager because he took complete responsibility ( ...

in the melodrama '' The Bells'', in the 19 December 1874 issue File:Pierre and Marie Curie Vanity Fair 1904-12-22.jpg, Caricature of

Pierre Pierre is a masculine given name. It is a French form of the name Peter. Pierre originally meant "rock" or "stone" in French (derived from the Greek word πέτρος (''petros'') meaning "stone, rock", via Latin "petra"). It is a translation ...

and

Marie Curie Maria Salomea Skłodowska-Curie (; ; 7 November 1867 – 4 July 1934), known simply as Marie Curie ( ; ), was a Polish and naturalised-French physicist and chemist who conducted pioneering research on radioactivity. She was List of female ...

in the 22 December 1904 issue File:WSGilbert by Spy.jpg,

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 ...

by Leslie Ward, published on 21 May 1881 Winston Churchill Vanity Fair 1900-09-27.jpg,

Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, military officer, and writer who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1940 to 1945 (Winston Churchill in the Second World War, ...

by Leslie Ward, 27 September 1900 File:Mark Twain Vanity Fair 1908-05-13.jpeg,

Mark Twain Samuel Langhorne Clemens (November 30, 1835 – April 21, 1910), known by the pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, and essayist. He was praised as the "greatest humorist the United States has produced," with William Fau ...

by Leslie Ward on 13 May 1908 File:Robert Baden-Powell Vanity Fair 19 April 1911.jpg, Captioned "Boy Scouts",

Robert Baden-Powell Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder of The Boy Scouts Association and its first Chief Scout, and founder, with ...

in the 19 April 1911 issue

References

External links

* . {{DEFAULTSORT:Vanity Fair (British Magazine) Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines published in England Magazine publishing companies of England Magazines published in London Publishing companies based in London 1868 establishments in the United Kingdom 1914 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1868 Magazines disestablished in 1914

History

Caricatures

Image gallery

See also

References

External links