Historical Newspaper Feature: Illustrated London News

When it comes to primary source material for newspapers Penn Libraries delivers. Penn readers can step deliciously into journalism history with the Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003, which covers more than 7,000 issues over 161 years, with 260,000 fulltext articles and more than 1.5 million images. The enormously popular daily showed and told the British public about their world, from the Crystal Palace and the Crimean War battlefields through King Tut and the sinking of the Titanic to the death of Princess Diana and beyond.

On Saturday 14 May 1842, a publishing revolution occurred. The world's first pictorial weekly newspaper was born: The Illustrated London News. Its founder, Herbert Ingram, was an entrepreneurial newsagent, who noticed that newspapers sold more copies when they carried pictures. The inaugural issue covered a fire in Hamburg, Queen Victoria's fancy dress ball, the war in Afghanistan and the latest fashions in Paris. The ILN commissioned a galaxy of great artists and draughtsmen to cover wars, royal events, scientific invention, and exploration. In 1855 it launched the world's first colour supplement. Over the years the publication played host to distinguished contributors and continued to push the boundaries of journalism throughout its history.--GALE Cengage Learning (Publisher)

And don't forget, for a more staid take on London town and the Continent there is also The Times of London at your disposal, Times Digital Archive (1785-1985).