''The Lorgnette'', subtitled "Theatrical Journal and Programme" (later "A journal for Amusements"), was a weekly magazine in

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

, Australia, devoted to theatre, opera and the concert stage. The magazine was published Saturdays and sold for 2d (two pence) at the major entertainment venues ( Theatre Royal,

Opera House An opera house is a theatre building used for performances of opera. It usually includes a stage, an orchestra pit, audience seating, and backstage facilities for costumes and building sets. While some venues are constructed specifically for o ...

, Academy of Music, Princess' Theatre, St George's Hall and

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

) where it had exclusive rights, and elsewhere. For much of its existence, a four-page supplement was issued with the Saturday two pence (from 1890 one penny) paper. The supplement was available ''gratis'' as a separate publication every other day of the week. This supplement was printed (and contents updated) daily, and datestamped. In order to promote forthcoming productions as well as providing up-to-date theatre news and current programmes, a great deal of its content was reprinted from one issue to the next, perhaps a unique characteristic of this magazine, while some features changed with every issue, notably the illustrated biographies, a list of which forms a large part of this article.

History

A sheet called ''The Lorgnette'' made its first appearance in Melbourne in July 1865, "a local

Punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pun ...

" without pictures" and was hailed by ''The Argus'' for its "considerable spirit". In April 1877, following a complaint from Joseph Alfred Hildreth, publisher of rival theatrical paper ''L'Entracte'', John J. Liddy, publisher of "The Lorgnette" at Royal lane, off 106

Bourke Street Bourke Street is one of the main streets in the Melbourne central business district and a core feature of the Hoddle Grid. It was traditionally the entertainment hub of inner-city Melbourne, and is now also a popular tourist destination and tr ...

east, was fined £5 with £2 2s. costs for having an unregistered press and types in his possession. William Marshall (editor)

In 1878 William Marshall, of Melbourne's ''

The Record and Emerald Hill and Sandridge Advertiser ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' ("''The Record''") newspaper, with printing works at Emerald Hill, purchased ''The Lorgnette'' and its printery, and continued running both businesses. Marshall divested himself of ''The Record'' in 1881. The printing works was adjacent the

Bijou Theatre, Melbourne The Victorian Academy of Music was a theatre in Bourke Street, Melbourne, built for Samuel Aarons in 1876. It was also advertised as the Bijou Theatre, as if to distinguish it from the larger Theatre Royal and Opera House, then in 1880 the "Acad ...

, which was destroyed by fire in April 1889. Marshall suffered significant losses as did the Brough-Boucicault Comedy Company, lessees of the theatre. Members of the acting community put on a benefit performance for Marshall, which raised £582. Those involved included

George Coppin George Selth Coppin (8 April 1819 – 14 March 1906) was a comic actor, a theatrical entrepreneur, a politician and a philanthropist, active in Australia.Sally O'Neill,Coppin, George Selth (1819–1906), '' Australian Dictionary of Biography'', ...

, the Majeronis, J. C. Williamson,

Richard Stewart Richard Stewart (born 1959) is the mayor for the city of Coquitlam, British Columbia. He was elected to Coquitlam City Council in 2005, and became mayor in 2008. Personal life He was married in 1983 to Anna Rosa, they have four children. Stewa ...

Grattan Riggs Thomas Grattan Riggs (January 1835 – 15 June 1899) was a US-born actor who had a significant career in Australia portraying Irish characters, though he never visited the place. History Riggs was born in Buffalo, New York to parents from Coun ...

Fred Maccabe Fred may refer to: People * Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name Mononym * Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French * Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico R ...

Alfred Dampier Alfred Dampier (28 February 1843? 1847? – 23 May 1908) was an English-born actor-manager and playwright, active in Australia.John Rickard,Dampier, Alfred (1843–1908), ''Australian Dictionary of Biography'', Vol. 4, Melbourne University Pres ...

Henry Harwood Admiral Sir Henry Harwood Harwood, KCB, OBE (19 January 1888 – 9 June 1950), was a British naval officer who won fame in the Battle of the River Plate. Early life Following education at Stubbington House School, Harwood entered the Roy ...

, and

Bland Holt Bland Holt (born Joseph Thomas Holt, (24 March 1851 – 28 June 1942)Dennis Shoesmith,, Australian Dictionary of Biography, Volume 4, MUP, 1972, pp 413-414. Accessed 1 August 2009 was a comedian and theatrical producer, active in Australia. ...

. A feature of issues from 11 May 1889 to 6 December 1890 was a biography of a prominent artist, accompanied by a photo-engraved (perhaps leggotype) portrait, a list of which appears below. In January 1889 Marshall purchased Fred E. Patey's interest in the ''Theatrical Courier'' and henceforth the ''Lorgnette'' was subtitled "With which is incorporated The Theatrical Courier". 11 May 1889 saw the first of the weekly series of biographies which continued to December 1890. 17 January 1891 was the last (Saturday) weekly issue at 1d. It was followed with an issue labelled "4th Series No. 1" dated 18 January, and was supplied gratis. It appears that, as with the Supplements mentioned above, fresh issues with updates could have been printed every day. John Liddy, who maintained a personal (if not financial) interest in the paper, died in January 1891 In 1898 William Marshall & Co. moved from Royal Lane to new premises at 229

Little Collins Street Little Collins Street is a minor street in the central business district (CBD) of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. The street runs parallel to and to the north of Collins Street and as a narrow one way lane takes on the name of the wider main ...

(just above

Swanston Street Swanston Street is a major thoroughfare in the centre of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is one of the main streets of the Melbourne central business district and was laid out in 1837 as part of the original Hoddle Grid. The street vertically ...

. The old premises had been condemned as unfit in 1895 and again in 1896. Marshall died on 12 June 1900, aged 55, fondly remembered by the theatre community.

The Lorgnette biographies

Digitization

Photographic copies of ''The Lorgnette'' fro
1 July 1878
t
1 December 1898
have been digitized by the

National library of Australia The National Library of Australia (NLA), formerly the Commonwealth National Library and Commonwealth Parliament Library, is the largest reference library in Australia, responsible under the terms of the ''National Library Act 1960'' for "mainta ...

and may be accessed via

Trove Trove is an Australian online library database owned by the National Library of Australia in which it holds partnerships with source providers National and State Libraries Australia, an aggregator and service which includes full text document ...

. In the "4th Series" a representative issue from the first of each month has been digitized.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lorgnette, The Arts magazines published in Australia 1875 establishments in Australia 1895 disestablishments in Australia Magazines established in 1875 Magazines disestablished in 1895 Magazines published in Melbourne Weekly magazines published in Australia Defunct magazines published in Australia