Meet the cousin of print news: the illustrated newspaper. Illustrated newspapers are a form of reportage art—a type of journalism that primarily uses visuals to tell stories. It was a widespread form of mass media in the 1800s. Because nineteenth century photography was not reliable nor portable enough for recording events, reportage art was the preferred method for capturing images for publications. As such, this type of journalism was commonly used to detail social events, war, courtroom proceedings, and news.

Illustrated newspapers combined print news with woodblock illustrations. Woodblock illustrations first began with sketches by artist-reporters. Next, engravers carved the sketches into woodblocks. For larger illustrations, multiple pieces of wood were carved separately before being locked together to create a full image. After carving, the finished woodblock was used alongside the letterpress to print text and image together. This process allowed illustrated newspapers to be mass produced. However, advancements in photography in the 1880s, like the development of the half-tone printing, slowly phased out the use of woodblock illustrations. By the start of the 20th century, photographs became the dominant form of visual media in newspapers.

The Illustrated London News, established in 1842, popularized the use of woodblock engravings in the press as the world’s first illustrated weekly magazine. Consequently, other illustrated newspapers, like Reynold’s News, popped into being, and this new form of media spread across the pond. Under the pseudonym Frank Leslie, Henry Carter created sketches for The Illustrated London News. After immigrating to the United States in the 1840s and changing his name permanently to Frank Leslie, he began Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper in the 1850s. Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper was one of the most popular illustrated publications in the United States. Other popular U.S. papers included Harper’s Weekly and The New-York Illustrated News. In the U.S., the Civil War bolstered the spread of illustrated newspapers because they helped provide people at home realistic glimpses of the war.

The Sherman Library archive has a collection of illustrated newspapers in traditional newspaper format and bound volumes by many different publishers from the years 1848 to 1929. Copies of The Illustrated London News, Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, Harper’s Weekly, and The New-York Illustrated News are all present in the collection. Other publications available include Gleason’s Pictorial Drawing-Room Companion and Ballou’s Pictorial Drawing Room Companion. The periodicals available at the Sherman Library cover a wide range of topics relevant to California and other states in the American West and Southwest (specifically Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and New Mexico). For example, if you are interested in California history, you can find newspapers about Yosemite, the Gold Rush, and the Modoc War in the Sherman Library collection. Other papers also offer insight into the lives of the Chinese, Japanese, and Native American populations in California in the mid-19th and early 20th centuries. Specific topics aside, the illustrated newspapers contain more than news and beautiful images. There are also poems, short stories, op-ed pieces, joke sections, reviews, and articles about science and economics.

Article by Claire Elizabeth Moylan, University of California, Irvine student.  Claire interned at Sherman Library for the 2024 fall quarter.