The Graphic: a Premier Illustrated Newspaper

This item is a collection of The Graphic’s weekly illustrated newspapers dating from July to December 1891. The weekly newspapers are bound together to create a large book, and to likely be stored as a volume. This copy of The graphic is located on the sixth floor of the University of Pennsylvania’s Van Pelt Library in the Kislak Center.

Background

The Graphic was a weekly illustrated newspaper launched in London in 1869 by William Luson Thomas and his brother Lewis Samuel Thomas. Upon its launch, it became quite successful; it was a common rival newspaper for the Illustrated London News, which was founded in 1842, 27 years earlier and was the first weekly illustrated newspaper in the world.

Materials

The Graphic is full of high-quality wood engraving prints, which were all done with great detail and by talented artists like Henry William Brewer, a notable illustrator who was considered to be one of the greatest architecture draughtsmen of his time. The large size of the pages indicates a desire by the artists to display its impressive illustrations. The cover of this particular book is decorated with paper marbling, a popular decorative choice for the cover and inside covers of books in the nineteenth century. This particular copy of the Graphic did not have any readership. The pages are in perfect condition, with no annotations or damage to them. This copy was likely created as a volume to store in the archives of the newspaper, and was not created to be circulated.