The Mass Image: A Social History Of Photomechanical Reproduction In Victorian London

The Mass Image A Social History of Photomechanical Reproduction in Victorian London Gerry Beegan The Mass Image This page intentionally left blank The Mass Image A Social History of Photomechanical Reproduction in Victorian London Gerry Beegan © Gerry Beegan 2008 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1T 4LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The author has asserted his right to be identified as the author of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2008 by PALGRAVE MACMILLAN Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE MACMILLAN is the global academic imprint of the Palgrave Macmillan division of St. Martin’s Press, LLC and of Palgrave Macmillan Ltd. Macmillan is a registered trademark in the United States, United Kingdom and other countries. Palgrave is a registered trademark in the European Union and other countries. ISBN-13: 9780230553279 hardback ISBN-10: 0230553273 hardback This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Logging, pulping and manufacturing processes are expected to conform to the environmental regulations of the country of origin. A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. A catalog record for this book is available from the Library of Congress. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 09 08 Printed and bound in Great Britain by CPI Antony Rowe, Chippenham and Eastbourne To J, K, K, K and L This page intentionally left blank Contents List of Illustrations viii Acknowledgments xi 1 Introduction: Mass Reproduction and the Mass Audience 1 2 Imaging the City: London and the Media in the 1890s 31 3 Wood Engraving: Facsimile and Fragmentation 47 4 Process Reproduction and the Image Assembly Line 72 5 The Pictorial Magazine and the City of Leisure 99 6 The Illustration of the Everyday 131 7 The Photograph on the Page 160 8 Learning to Read the Halftone 186 Notes 210 Bibliography 273 Index 291 vii List of Illustrations Jacket Cover “From a Photograph,” “The Meisenbach Company,” British Printer, 7.39, May 1894, 176. (Photorelief halftone print from retouched photograph, detail) 1 “They Know a Good Thing When They See it, Photo by Miss Gidley,” Sketch, 24.300, October 26, 1898, 40. (Photorelief halftone print from retouched photograph, detail) 2 “Mr. Max Pemberton Reading the Sketch,” Sketch,