As the world’s first fully illustrated weekly newspaper launched in 1842 by Bruce Ingram, The Illustrated London News presented a vivid chronicle of lives and times, marking a revolution in journalism. It defined visual reporting of the era, bringing the news in intricate illustration into the household for the first time. Its coverage is extensive, taking in current and world events, war, social history, famous people, royalty, politics, transport and travel, science and inventions, crime, culture, literature, art and illustration, archaeology and natural history.

The Illustrated London News was renowned for its famous writers and illustrators. The archive includes work by Daphne du Maurier, Agatha Christie, AA Milne, Robert Louis Stevenson, Thomas Hardy, J M Barrie, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, G K Chesterton and illustrations and photographs by artists including Fortunino Matania, Mabel Lucie Attwell, Cecil Beaton, Christian Broom, Thomas Fall, George E Studdy, H M Bateman, Bruce Bairnsfather and Rebecca Solomon.

The Illustrated London News finally ceased publication in 2003 with an archive of over 7,000 issues. Focussing on world events from the early Victorian era to the 21st century, a lifespan of almost 170 years, it is a unique and priceless historical primary source.

Click here for a moving snapshot of The Illustrated London News from 125 years ago.