Illustrated London News was a popular illustrated magazine published in London. It was one of the longest-running magazines published in English. The magazine became known for its pictures and artwork, but it also published writings by some of the greatest authors of the United Kingdom. The novelist and poet G. K. Chesterton wrote a regular column on various subjects for the Illustrated London News from 1905 to 1936. Other noted authors who wrote for the magazine included J. M. Barrie, Agatha Christie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Thomas Hardy, Rudyard Kipling, and Robert Louis Stevenson.
The Illustrated London News began publication as a weekly magazine on May 14,1842. It was the creation of Herbert Ingram, a Lincolnshire-born newsdealer. Ingram was a friend of Mark Lemon, a playwright and the first editor of Punch, an illustrated humorous magazine that began publication in 1841. Lemon served as Ingram’s consultant on the first edition of the Illustrated London News. The first edition consisted of 16 pages and carried 32 woodcuts. It featured pictures of a war that British troops were fighting in Afghanistan and a ball at Buckingham Palace. The magazine was an immediate success.
The Illustrated London News was a pictorial chronicle of its times. The early issues concentrated on life in the United Kingdom, but over the years the magazine extended its range to cover world news. It sent artists all over the world to cover major events, including wars and cultural activities. Some of its most stark images were those of the Great Irish Famine, published in 1845. In 1893, the caricaturist Harry Furniss covered the World’s Columbian Exposition, a world’s fair in Chicago, as special artist for the magazine. The Illustrated London News began including photographs in 1888. The photographs captured famous people and places—such as Czar Nicholas II, the last czar of Russia, and the Crystal Palace, an exhibition hall built for the Great Exhibition of 1851, a world’s fair in London. Other pictures related to the current news, such as women working on production lines during World War II (1939-1945).
The Illustrated London News extended its coverage to literature, music and the arts, fashion, hobbies and interests, and many other facets of life. It mixed news features and society stories with general interest and travel articles. In 1971, the magazine became a monthly magazine. One of its most eye-catching features was its “Window on the World.” This section included a selection of black-and-white and full-color pictures with a digest of news stories covering the previous four weeks. In the late 1980’s, the Illustrated London News became a lifestyle magazine that blended news content with articles on food, fashion, travel, and other topics. The magazine became a bimonthly in 1989 and ceased publication in 2003.
