Art and architecture
Art Union
Date range: 1839; 1841-1848
Online: 1839-1848
First published: 1839
Frequency: Monthly
Price: 1 shilling
Content: Supported the values of the Royal Academy, which it took to be synonymous with British art. Edited by Samuel Carter Hall, it retained its reputation as the voice of the art establishment when it became the Art Journal in 1849. Featured art news (UK and in Europe), art related articles (new printing techniques, historical pieces, artist biographies), book reviews, advertisements.
Illustration: Small wood engraving insets illustrate articles.
The Art Journal
Date range: 1849-1912
Online: 1875-1880
First published: 1849
Frequency: Monthly
Price: By subscription
Content: The Art Journal, published in London, was the most important Victorian magazine on art. It became notable for its honest portrayal of fine arts. The early issues of the magazine strongly supported the artists of The Clique, and after 1850 it became associated with opposition to the emerging Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood (PRB), which it considered to be a reactionary movement. Its articles attacked the PRB and its supporter John Ruskin.
Finding aids: List of illustration at front of volume
Illustration: Wood, copper and steel engravings. High quality plates on thick paper. Illustrated extracts from poems, large wood engravings.
Magazine of Art Illustrated
Date range: 1881-1885; 1887-1903
First published: 1878
Frequency: Monthly
Price: By subscription
Content: The Magazine of Art was an illustrated monthly British journal devoted to the visual arts. It included reviews of exhibitions, articles about artists, with biographies and examples of their work, and all branches of the visual arts, as well as articles on poetry, travel and costume.
Finding aids: List of engraving and plates at front of volume.
Illustration: Lavishly illustrated by leading engravers of the period. Wood engraving and photogravure.
The Sketch
Date range: 1894
First published: 1893
Frequency: Weekly
Price: 6d
Content: The Sketch, a journal of art and actuality, focused on high society, the aristocracy, theatre, cinema and art studies. ‘Ladies’ pages’ in each issue showcase the latest fashions. It was in a large format and around 50 pages long, including advertising.
Illustration: It featured both engravings and photographs, with many studies of society ladies and their children, as well as reproducing popular artworks.
The Year's Art
Date range: 1880-1901; 1903; 1906-1911; 1914; 1918; 1920-1927; 1929-1938
First published: 1880
Price: 3 shillings
Content: The Year’s Art, founded 1880, was an annual compendium of activity in the visual arts in Britain and beyond. It includes brief descriptions of major art societies and exhibitions listings, as well as advertisements.
Illustration: Illustrated selections from exhibitions in a ‘collage’ format. A couple of plates, fairly poor quality.
The Yellow Book
Date range: 1894-1897
First published: 1894
Frequency: quarterly
Price: 5 shillings
Content: A high quality illustrated quarterly, co-edited by Aubrey Beardsley, it included a combination of fin de siècle art and literature. The Yellow Book was a new kind of journal – each volume was book length, and expensively produced in hardback with illustrated yellow covers. A book in yellow wrappers, carried by Oscar Wilde during his arrest in 1895, was mistaken for The Yellow Book, and an angry mob attacked its publisher’s offices. Beardsley was sacked due to his association with Wilde as the illustrator of Salome, thus he only contributed to the first four issues.
Illustration: Each volume featured an iconic monochrome Beardsley illustration on the bright yellow covers, and within, contained plates showcasing the latest art, including many of Beardsley’s own works.
Charles Knight, The pictorial gallery of arts (London: Charles Knight, [1846]-1847)
Two volumes: one for ‘useful arts’, and one for ‘fine arts’. Illustrated by steel engraving and four thousand wood engravings.
