Little Masterpieces of American Wit and Humor, Volume II
Page 5
G. H. DERBY ("Phoenix," "Squibob")
ILLUSTRATED NEWSPAPERS
A year or two since, a weekly paper was started in London called the_Illustrated News_. It was filled with tolerably executed wood-cuts,representing scenes of popular interest; and though perhaps bettercalculated for the nursery than the reading-room, it took very wellin England, where few can read but all can understand pictures, andsoon attained immense circulation. As when the inimitable London_Punch_ attained its world-wide celebrity, supported by such writersas Thackeray, Jerrold and Hood, would-be funny men on this side of theAtlantic attempted absurd imitations--the _Yankee Doodle_, the _JohnDonkey_, etc.--which as a matter of course proved miserable failures;so did the success of this illustrated affair inspire our money-lovingpublishers with hopes of dollars, and soon appeared from Boston, NewYork and other places pictorial and illustrated newspapers, teemingwith execrable and silly effusions, and filled with the most fearfulwood engravings, "got up regardless of expense" or anything else; thecontemplation of which was enough to make an artist tear his hair andrend his garments. A Yankee named Gleason, of Boston, published thefirst, we believe, calling it _Gleason's Pictorial_ (it should havebeen _Gleason's Pickpocket_) _and Drawing-Room Companion_. In this hepresented to his unhappy subscribers views of his house in the country,and his garden, and, for aught we know, of "his ox and his ass, and thestranger within his gates." A detestable invention for transferringdaguerreotypes to plates for engraving, having come into notice aboutthis time, was eagerly seized upon by Gleason for further embellishinghis catchpenny publication--duplicates and uncalled-for pictureswere easily obtained, and many a man has gazed in horror-strickenastonishment on the likeness of a respected friend as a "Portrait ofMonroe Edwards," or that of his deceased grandmother in the characterof "One of the Signers of the Declaration of Independence." Theylove pictures in Yankeedom; every tin-peddler has one on his wagon,and an itinerant lecturer can always obtain an audience by stickingup a likeness of some unhappy female, with her ribs laid open in animpossible manner, for public inspection, or a hairless gentleman,with the surface of his head laid out in eligible lots duly marked andnumbered. The factory girls of Lowell, the professors of Harvard, allbought the new _Pictorial_. (Professor Webster was reading one whenDoctor Parkman called on him on the morning of the murder.) Gleason'sspeculation was crowned with success, and he bought himself a newcooking stove, and erected an outbuilding on his estate, with both ofwhich he favored the public in a new wood-cut immediately.
Inspired by his success, oldFeejec-Mermaid-Tom-Thumb-Woolly-Horse-Joyce-Heth-Barnum forthwith gotout another illustrated weekly, with pictures far more extensive,letter-press still sillier, and engravings more miserable, ifpossible, than Yankee Gleason's. And then we were bored and buffetedby having incredible likenesses of Santa Anna, Queen Victoria and poorold Webster thrust beneath our nose, to that degree that we wishedthe respected originals had never existed, or that the art of woodengraving had perished with that of painting on glass.
It was, therefore, with the most intense delight that we saw a noticethe other day of the failure and stoppage of _Barnum's IllustratedNews_; we rejoiced thereat greatly, and we hope that it will never berevived, and that Gleason will also fail as soon as he convenientlycan, and that his trashy _Pictorial_ will perish with it.
It must not be supposed from the tenor of these remarks that we areopposed to the publication of a properly conducted and creditablyexecuted illustrated paper. "On the contrary, quite the reverse." Weare passionately fond of art ourselves, and we believe that nothingcan have a stronger tendency to refinement in society than presentingto the public chaste and elaborate engravings, copies of works of highartistic merit, accompanied by graphic and well written essays. Itwas for the purpose of introducing a paper containing these featuresto our appreciative community that we have made these introductoryremarks, and for the purpose of challenging comparison, and defyingcompetition, that we have criticized so severely the imbecile andephemeral productions mentioned above. At a vast expenditure of money,time and labor, and after the most incredible and unheard of exertionon our part, individually, we are at length able to present to thepublic an illustrated publication of unprecedented merit, containingengravings of exceeding costliness and rare beauty of design, got up onan expensive scale which never has been attempted before in this or anyother country.
We furnish our readers this week with the first number, merelypremising that the immense expense attending its issue will require acorresponding liberality of patronage on the part of the Public, tocause it to be continued.
_PHOENIX'S PICTORIAL_ _And Second Story Front Room Companion_ ----------------------------------------- Vol. 1.] San Diego, Oct. 1, 1853. [No. 1. ----------------------------------------- Portrait of His Royal Highness Prince Albert.--Prince Albert, the son of a gentleman named Coburg, is the husband of Queen Victoria of England, and the father of many of her children. He is the inventor of the celebrated "Albert hat," which has been lately introduced with great effect in the U. S. Army. The Prince is of German extraction, his father being a Dutchman and his mother a Duchess.]
Mansion of John Phoenix, Esq., San Diego, California.]
House in which Shakespeare was born, in Stratford-on-Avon.]
Abbottsford, the residence of Sir Walter Scott, author of Byron's "Pilgrim's Progress," etc.]
The Capitol at Washington.]
Residence of Governor Bigler, at Benicia, California.]
Battle of Lake Erie (_see remarks_, p. 96).]
[Page 96.] The Battle of Lake Erie, of which our Artist presents a spirited engraving, copied from the original painting, by Hannibal Carracci, in the possession of J. P. Haven, Esq., was fought in 1836, on Chesapeake Bay, between the U. S. frigates _Constitution_ and _Guerriere_ and the British troops, under General Putnam. Our glorious flag, there as everywhere, was victorious, and "Long may it wave, o'er the land of the free, and the home of _the slave_."
Fearful accident on the Camden and Amboy Railroad!! Terrible loss of life!!!]
View of the City of San Diego, by Sir Benjamin West.]
Interview between Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe and the Duchess of Sutherland, from a group of Statuary, by Clarke Mills.]
Bank Account of J. Phoenix, Esq., at Adams and Company, Bankers, San Francisco, California.]
Gas Works, San Diego _Herald_ office.]
Steamer Goliah.]
View of a California Ranch.--Landseer.]
Shell of an oyster once eaten by General Washington; showing the General's manner of opening oysters.]
There! This is but a specimen of what we can do if liberally sustained.We wait with anxiety to hear the verdict of the public beforeproceeding to any further and greater outlays.
Subscription, $5 per annum, payable invariably in advance.
INDUCEMENTS FOR CLUBBING
Twenty copies furnished for one year for fifty cents. Address JohnPhoenix, Office of the San Diego _Herald_.