Vanity Fair (British magazine)
Encyclopedia
The second Vanity Fair was a British
weekly magazine published from 1868 to 1914.
, who aimed to expose the contemporary vanities of Victorian
society. The first issue appeared in London
on 7 November 1868. It offered its readership articles on fashion, current events, the theatre, books, social events and the latest scandals, together with serial fiction
, word game
s and other trivia.
Bowles wrote much of the magazine himself under various pseudonyms, such as "Jehu Junior", but contributors included Lewis Carroll
, Willie Wilde
, P. G. Wodehouse
, Jessie Pope
and Bertram Fletcher Robinson
(who was editor from June 1904 to October 1906).
Thomas Allinson
bought the magazine in 1911 from Frank Harris
, by which time it was failing financially. He failed to revive it and the final issue of Vanity Fair appeared on 5 February 1914, after which it was merged into Hearth and Home.
s that Vanity Fair is best known today. Subjects included artists, athletes, royalty, statesmen, scientists, authors, actors, soldiers, religious personalities, business people and scholars. More than two thousand of these images appeared, and they are considered the chief cultural legacy of the magazine, forming a pictorial record of the period. They were produced by an international group of artists
, including Max Beerbohm
, Sir Leslie Ward
(who signed his work "Spy" and "Drawl"), the Italians Carlo Pellegrini
("Singe" and "Ape"), Melchiorre Delfico
("Delfico") and Liborio Prosperi
("Lib"), the French artist James Jacques Tissot (Coïdé), and the American Thomas Nast
.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
weekly magazine published from 1868 to 1914.
History
Subtitled "A Weekly Show of Political, Social and Literary Wares", it was founded by Thomas Gibson BowlesThomas Gibson Bowles
Thomas Gibson Bowles , generally known as Tommy Bowles, was the founder of the magazines The Lady and the English Vanity Fair, a sailor and the maternal grandfather of the Mitford sisters.-Parents:...
, who aimed to expose the contemporary vanities of Victorian
Victorian era
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901. It was a long period of peace, prosperity, refined sensibilities and national self-confidence...
society. The first issue appeared in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
on 7 November 1868. It offered its readership articles on fashion, current events, the theatre, books, social events and the latest scandals, together with serial fiction
Serial (literature)
In literature, a serial is a publishing format by which a single large work, most often a work of narrative fiction, is presented in contiguous installments—also known as numbers, parts, or fascicles—either issued as separate publications or appearing in sequential issues of a single periodical...
, word game
Word game
Word games and puzzles are spoken or board games often designed to test ability with language or to explore its properties.Word games are generally engaged as a source of entertainment, but have been found to serve an educational purpose as well...
s and other trivia.
Bowles wrote much of the magazine himself under various pseudonyms, such as "Jehu Junior", but contributors included Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
, Willie Wilde
Willie Wilde
William 'Willie' Charles Kingsbury Wilde was an Irish journalist and poet of the Victorian era and the older brother of Oscar Wilde.-Background:...
, P. G. Wodehouse
P. G. Wodehouse
Sir Pelham Grenville Wodehouse, KBE was an English humorist, whose body of work includes novels, short stories, plays, poems, song lyrics, and numerous pieces of journalism. He enjoyed enormous popular success during a career that lasted more than seventy years and his many writings continue to be...
, Jessie Pope
Jessie Pope
Jessie Pope was an English poet, writer and journalist, who remains best known for her patriotic motivational poems published during World War I...
and Bertram Fletcher Robinson
Bertram Fletcher Robinson
Bertram Fletcher Robinson was an English sportsman, journalist, author and Liberal Unionist Party campaigner. Between 1893 and 1907, he wrote nearly 300 published items including a series of short stories that feature a detective called Addington Peace. However, Robinson is perhaps best remembered...
(who was editor from June 1904 to October 1906).
Thomas Allinson
Thomas Allinson
Thomas Richard Allinson was a British doctor, dietetic reformer, business man and journalist. He was a proponent of whole grain bread consumption. His name is still used today for a bread popular in Europe, Allinson bread....
bought the magazine in 1911 from Frank Harris
Frank Harris
Frank Harris was a Irish-born, naturalized-American author, editor, journalist and publisher, who was friendly with many well-known figures of his day...
, by which time it was failing financially. He failed to revive it and the final issue of Vanity Fair appeared on 5 February 1914, after which it was merged into Hearth and Home.
Caricatures
A full-page, colour lithograph of a contemporary celebrity or dignitary appeared in most issues, and it is for these caricatureCaricature
A caricature is a portrait that exaggerates or distorts the essence of a person or thing to create an easily identifiable visual likeness. In literature, a caricature is a description of a person using exaggeration of some characteristics and oversimplification of others.Caricatures can be...
s that Vanity Fair is best known today. Subjects included artists, athletes, royalty, statesmen, scientists, authors, actors, soldiers, religious personalities, business people and scholars. More than two thousand of these images appeared, and they are considered the chief cultural legacy of the magazine, forming a pictorial record of the period. They were produced by an international group of artists
Vanity Fair artists
The following is a list of artists who contributed to the British magazine Vanity Fair -Artists:-See also:*Maîtres de l'Affiche*Vanity Fair *Vanity Fair caricatures-External links:...
, including Max Beerbohm
Max Beerbohm
Sir Henry Maximilian "Max" Beerbohm was an English essayist, parodist and caricaturist best known today for his 1911 novel Zuleika Dobson.-Early life:...
, Sir Leslie Ward
Leslie Ward
Sir Leslie Matthew Ward , was a British portrait artist and caricaturist who drew or painted numerous portraits which were regularly published by Vanity Fair, under the pseudonyms "Spy" and "Drawl".-Background:...
(who signed his work "Spy" and "Drawl"), the Italians Carlo Pellegrini
Carlo Pellegrini
Carlo Pellegrini "Ape", was an Italian caricaturist, born in Capua of aristocratic stock. His father came from an ancient land-owning family, while his mother was descended from the Medici. From 1869 to 1889 he was a caricaturist for Vanity Fair magazine, a leading journal of London Society...
("Singe" and "Ape"), Melchiorre Delfico
Melchiorre Delfico (caricaturist)
Baron Melchiorre De Filippis Delfico was an artist, composer, singer, conductor, writer, librettist and a master of the Neapolitan art of caricature who inspired, among others, Carlo Pellegrini.Melchiorre Delfico, the 'Prince of Caricaturists', is best remembered today for his caricatures of...
("Delfico") and Liborio Prosperi
Liborio Prosperi
Liborio Prosperi aka Libero Prosperi , was an Italian-born artist who belonged to a group of international artists producing caricatures for the British Vanity Fair magazine. The characters they depicted included royalty, statesmen, scientists, authors, actors, soldiers, scholars and sporting...
("Lib"), the French artist James Jacques Tissot (Coïdé), and the American Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast
Thomas Nast was a German-born American caricaturist and editorial cartoonist who is considered to be the "Father of the American Cartoon". He was the scourge of Boss Tweed and the Tammany Hall machine...
.
See also
- List of Vanity Fair caricatures
- List of Vanity Fair artists
- Wat Bradford, The Rowers of Vanity Fair Wikibook gives a history of the magazine with focus on sportsmen
External links
- National Portrait Gallery
- Roy T Matthews & Peter Mellini, "In Vanity Fair, published by Scholar Press, London, 1982