'A specimen of the most recent application of the versatile art of lithography' which is also given, dates the popular introduction of the coloured plate by which several magazines, Nature and Art, The Chromo-lithograph, etc., were illustrated entirely; others, especially The Sunday at Home, Leisure Hour, People's Magazine, etc., from 1864 onwards issued monthly frontispieces in colours and gold—a practice now confined almost wholly to boys' magazines. The pictures by artists already associated with Once a Week include (in vol. i. p. 8) two by A. Boyd Houghton, The Queen of the Rubies (p. 177) and A Turkish Tragedy (p. 448); four by Paul Gray, The Phantom Ship (p. 43), Blanche (pp. 291, 317), and The Fight on Rhu Carn (p. 713); two by T. Morten, The Dying Viking (p. 239), a drawing curiously like Sandys's Rosamunda, and King Eric (p. 435); six by W. Small, Billy Blake's Best Coffin (p. 15), Kattie and the Deil (p. 99), The King and the Bishop (p. 183), The Staghound (p. 295), Thunnors Slip (p. 351), and Larthon of Inis-Huna (p. 575); five by J. Lawson: The Watch-tower (p. 121), Theocritus (p. 211), In statu quo (p. 463), Ancient Clan Dirge (p. 491), and Wait On (p. 631); one by F. W. Lawson, A Sunday a Century ago (p. 671), and others. Among recruits we find R. Barnes with Lost for Gold (p. 407), B. Bradley with A Raid (p. 659), eleven by Edward Hughes, and many by G. Bowers, R. T. Pritchett, F. J. Slinger, and others. Altogether the New Series started bravely. In vol. ii. New Series, the so-called 'extra illustrations' include The Suit of Armour (Frontispiece), by Sir John Gilbert; Evening (p. 97), by Basil Bradley; Poor Christine (p. 245), by Edward Hughes; Among the Breakers (p. 344), by E. Duncan; The Nymph's Lament (p. 476), by G. Du Maurier; and The Huntress of Armorica (p. 706), by Paul Gray. Of 'old hands' Du Maurier has another of his graceful drawings, Lady Julia (p. 239), and Paul Gray has, besides the special plate, eleven to Hobson's Choice (pp. 169, 197, 225, 253, 281, 309, 337, 365, 393, 421, and 449); three by A. Boyd Houghton are A Dead Man's Message (p. 211); and The Mistaken Ghost (pp. 687, 723); T. Morten has only a couple, The Curse of the Gudmunds (p. 155) and On the Cliffs (p. 308); and G. J. Pinwell one, The Pastor and the Landgrave (p. 631); J. W North's Luther's Gardener (p. 99) is a curious drawing to a curious poem; W. Small, with Eldorado (p. 15), Dorette (p. 379), The Gift of Clunnog Vawr (p. 463), The Prize Maiden (pp. 491, 519, 560), and Tranquillity (p. 575), shows more and more that strong personality which by and by influenced black and white art, so that men of the seventies are far more disciples of Small than even were the men of the sixties of Millais. M. E. Edwards's Avice and her Lover (p. 141); six by Basil Bradley (pp. 140, 252, 279, 532, 603, and 659), Charles Green's Kunegunda (p. 71), Hazeley Mill (p. 85), and Michael Considine's Daughter (p. 351); five by Edward Hughes (pp. 183, 407, 547, 585, and 599); three by J. Lawson: Ariadne (p. 127), The Mulberry-tree (p. 323), and Gabrielle's Cross (p. 699). F. W. Lawson's A Midshipman's Yarn (p. 113) and Grandmother's Story (p. 223) deserve to be noted. Others by G. Bowers, F. Eltze, R. T. Pritchett, P. J. Skelton, E. Wimpress (sic), and J. Wolf among the rest, call for no comment. For the Christmas number for this year 1866, W. Small has The Brown Imp (p. 12); J. Lawson, The Birth of the Rose (p. 20); E. Hughes, The Pension Latoque (p. 25); Ernest Griset, Boar Hunting (p. 57); G. B. Goddard, Christmas Eve in the Country (p. 58); and Basil Bradley, A Winter Piece (p. 62); John Leighton contributes a frontispiece and illustrations to St. George and the Dragon, a poem by the author of John Halifax.
In volume iii. 1867 the extra illustrations are still distinguished by a special subject index; they include Lord Aythan (Frontispiece), by J. Tenniel; Coming through the Fence (p. 112), by R. Ansdell, A.R.A.; Feeding the Sacred Ibis (p. 238), by E. J. Poynter; Come, buy my pretty windmills (p. 360), by G. J. Pinwell; Hide a Stick (p. 569), by F. J. Shields; and Highland Sheep (p. 692), by Basil Bradley. Another extra plate, a drawing by Helen J. Miles, 'given as an example of graphotype,' is not without technical interest. In the accompanying article we find that the possibilities of mechanical reproduction are discussed, and the writer adds, as his highest flight of fancy, 'who shall say that graphotype may not be the origin of a daily illustrated paper?' It would be out of place to pursue this tempting theme, and to discuss the Daily Graphic of New York and succeeding illustrated dailies, for all these things were but dreams in the sixties. Yet, undoubtedly, graphotype set people on the track of process-work. By and by the photographer came in as the welcome ally, who left the draughtsman free to work upon familiar materials, instead of the block itself, and presently supplanted the engraver also, and the great rival of wood-cutting and wood-engraving sprang into life. Among the ordinary illustrations A. Boyd Houghton is represented by The Mistaken Ghost (p. 15), A Hindoo Legend (p. 273), and The Bride of Rozelle (p. 663); G. J. Pinwell by Joe Robertson's Folly (p. 225) and The Old Keeper's Story (p. 483); J. W. North by The Lake (p. 303); W. Small by A Queer Story about Banditti (pp. 55, 83); S. L. Fildes by a strongly-drawn design, The Goldsmith's Apprentice (p. 723); Ernest Griset by a slight yet distinctly grotesque Tale of a Tiger (p. 7); M. Ellen Edwards by Wishes (p. 633) and Kate Edwards by Cherry Blossom (p. 543); J. Lawson by The Legend of St. Katherine (p. 127), Sir Ralph de Blanc-Minster (p. 168), and Hymn to Apollo (p. 406); F. W. Lawson by The Singer of the Sea (p. 603). The various examples by F. A. Fraser, T. Green, T. Scott (a well-known portrait engraver), E. M. Wimpress, and the rest may be dismissed with bare mention. In vol. iv., New Series, we find Charles Keene with a frontispiece, The Old Shepherd; The Haymakers (p. 105), E. M. Wimpress; Cassandra (p. 345), S. L. Fildes; Fetching the Doctor (p. 494), H. S. Marks; Imma and Eginhart (p. 644), W. Small; and The Christmas Choir (p. 762), F. A. Fraser, are the other separate plates. Those printed with the text include The Child Queen (p. 135) and Feuilles d'Automne (p. 285), by S. L. Fildes; Evening Tide (p. 255), a typical pastoral, by G. J. Pinwell; Zoë Fane (p. 705), by J. Mahoney; and others by B. Bradley, E. F. Brewtnall, F. Eltze, T. Green, E. Hughes, F. W. Lawson, E. Sheil, L. Straszinski, T. Sulman, E. M. Wimpress, etc. Despite the presence of many of the old staff, the list of names shows that the palmy days of the magazine are over. The Christmas number contains, inter alia, a frontispiece by John Gilbert; My Cousin Renie (p. 13), by J. Mahoney; Scotch Cattle, by Basil Bradley; and The Maiden's Test, by M. E. Edwards (p. 49).
In 1868 another new series starts. A notable feature has disappeared: the illustrations no longer figure in a separate list, but their artists' names are tacked on to the few articles and stories which are illustrated in the ordinary index. Yet the drawings by Du Maurier to Charles Reade's Foul Play (pp. 12, 57, 140, 247, 269, 312, 421, 464, 530) would alone make the year interesting. People, who regard Du Maurier as a society draughtsman only, must be astonished at the grim melodramatic force displayed in these. 'John Millais, R.A.,' also appears as a contributor with Death Dealing Arrows (p. 79); S. L. Fildes has The Orchard (p. 396); F. W. Lawson, The Castaway (p. 242); Basil Bradley is well represented by The Chillingham Cattle (p. 100), and Another day's work done (p. 346); F. S. Walker appears with A Lazy Fellow (p. 211), John Gilbert with The Armourer (p. 364), and M. E. Edwards with the society pictures, The Royal Academy (p. 409) and A Flower Show (p. 516). In the second volume for 1868 we find Salmon Fishing (p. 292) and Daphne (p. 397), both by S. L. Fildes; Found Out (p. 31), A Town Cousin (p. 150), Left in the Lurch (p. 230), and Blackberry Gatherers (p. 213), by H. Paterson; Sussex Oxen (p. 110) and The Foxhound (p. 355), by Basil Bradley; The Picnic (p. 270), by F. W. Lawson, who has also The Waits, the frontispiece of the Christmas number, which contains Taking his ease (p. 264), the last Millais in the magazine; a clever gallery study; Boxing Night, by S. L. Fildes, and a capital domestic group, The Old Dream (p. 48), by M. E. Edwards.
In 1869, vol. iii., New Series, contains a single example by G. J. Pinwell, A seat in the park (p. 518); five by S. L. Fildes; The Duet (p. 56), The Juggler (p. 188), Hours of Idleness, the subject of a later Academy picture (p. 475), Led to Execution (p. 540), and Basking (p. 562); and others by Fred Barnard (pp. 166, 254, 346, 450), B. Bradley (pp. 78, 210, 496), Val Prinsep (p. 298), F. W. Lawson (p. 34), and Ford Madox Brown, The Traveller (p. 144). To state that vol. iv., New Series, is absolutely without interest is to let it off cheaply.
In the volume for 1870 the names of artists are omitted, and if we follow the editor's example no injustice will be done, despite a few clever drawings by R. M[acbeth]; the work, not merely in date but in spirit, is of the new decade, and as it is exceptionally poor at that for the most part, it no longer belongs to the subject with which this volume is concerned.
[CHAPTER IV: SOME ILLUSTRATED MAGAZINES OF THE SIXTIES: II. 'THE CORNHILL,' 'GOOD WORDS,' AND LONDON SOCIETY']
THE CORNHILL MAGAZINE, which began in 1860 with Thackeray as editor, showed from the very first that the aim of the Magazine was to keep the level of its pictures equal to that of its text. In looking through the forty-seven volumes of the first series it is gratifying to find that this purpose was never forgotten. Many a rival magazine has been started since under the happiest auspices, with the most loyal intention to have the best and only the very best illustrations; but in a few years the effort has been too exacting, and the average commonplace of its padding in prose and verse has been equalled by the dull mediocrity of its pictures. Only those who have experienced the difficulty which faces an editor firmly resolved to exclude the commonplace of any sort can realise fully what a strain a successful effort, lasting over twenty years, must needs impose on the responsible conductors. Thackeray, as we know, soon found the labour too great; but his successors kept nobly to their purpose, and few magazines show more honourable fulfilment of their projected scheme than the classic Cornhill, which has introduced so many masterpieces in art and literature to the public.