The ''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' was a British weekly

magazine A magazine is a periodical publication, generally published on a regular schedule (often weekly or monthly), containing a variety of content. They are generally financed by advertising, purchase price, prepaid subscriptions, or by a combinatio ...

founded in 1874 and published in London. In 1945 it changed its name to the ''Sport and Country'', and in 1957 to the ''Farm and Country'', before closing in 1970.

History

The ''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'' was founded in 1874. The paper covered, as its title indicates, both sporting and theatrical events, including news and criticism. It also contained original pieces of fiction in serials and a story or two in each issue. There were numerous similar publications in Britain at the time, including the ''

Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication in ...

'', which shared its address and some illustrators with the magazine.Victorian Illustrated Newspapers and Journals: Select list
at

British Library The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...

web site, accessed 5 December 2008 In 1883, the paper published a cartoon showing

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

in convict dress, which was considered at the time to be a very serious slur. Twelve years later, Wilde was convicted of " gross indecency" and sentenced to two years penal labour. The paper is a good source of illustrations from sporting and theatre events, such as images of

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance sport, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its basic p ...

. Notable illustrators included

Louis Wain Louis William Wain (5 August 1860 – 4 July 1939) was an English artist best known for his drawings, which consistently featured anthropomorphized large-eyed cats and kittens. Later in life, he was confined to mental institutions and struggle ...

, Frank R. Grey,

D. H. Friston David Henry Friston (1820–1906) was a British illustrator and figure painter in the Victorian Era. He is best remembered as the creator of the first illustrations of Sherlock Holmes in 1887, as well as his illustrations of the female vampire ...

Alfred Concanen Alfred Concanen (1835 – 10 December 1886) was, for over twenty-five years, one of the leading lithographers of the Victorian era, best remembered for his illustrated sheet music covers for songs made popular by famous music hall performers ...

and Alfred Bryan. In 1920, its address was 172,

Strand Strand may refer to: Topography *The flat area of land bordering a body of water, a: ** Beach ** Shoreline * Strand swamp, a type of swamp habitat in Florida Places Africa * Strand, Western Cape, a seaside town in South Africa * Strand Street ...

, London WC 2. Notable editors included

James Wentworth Day James Wentworth Day (21 April 1899 – 5 January 1983) was a British author and broadcaster, a promoter of Agrarian Right politics and essentially a High Tory. He lived for most of his life in East Anglia. He had a particular interest in wil ...

, who served in the post between 1935 and 1937. The magazine's published fiction included

W. S. Gilbert Sir William Schwenck Gilbert (18 November 1836 – 29 May 1911) was an English dramatist, librettist, poet and illustrator best known for his collaboration with composer Arthur Sullivan, which produced fourteen comic operas. The most f ...

's short piece, ''Actors, Authors and Audiences'' in 1880's ''Holly Leaves'', its annual

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

special,

Bram Stoker Abraham Stoker (8 November 1847 – 20 April 1912) was an Irish author who is celebrated for his 1897 Gothic horror novel '' Dracula''. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Sir Henry Irving and busine ...

's ''The Squaw'' (1893) and ''Crooken Sands'' (1894),

Agatha Christie Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...

's story ''The Unbreakable Alibi'' in ''Holly Leaves'' of 1928, and her ''Sing a Song of Sixpence'' in the following year's ''Holly Leaves''. The Irish

chess Chess is a board game for two players, called White and Black, each controlling an army of chess pieces in their color, with the objective to checkmate the opponent's king. It is sometimes called international chess or Western chess to disti ...

grand master

George Alcock MacDonnell George Alcock MacDonnell (16 August 1830 in Dublin – 3 June 1899 in London) was an Anglican clergyman as well as a chess master and writer. He tied for 3rd-4th at London 1862 (the 5th British Chess Congress, Adolf Anderssen won), won two match ...

wrote a regular chess column under the name of ''Mars''. According to a ''Catalogue of Printed Books in the Library of the British Museum'', the

holds copies of the paper from 28 February 1874. The

University of Wisconsin–Madison A university () is an educational institution, institution of higher education, higher (or Tertiary education, tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several Discipline (academia), academic disciplines. Universities ty ...

has all but three of the first twenty-five volumes in its English and Irish Periodicals collection.English and Irish Periodicals Published 1800-1914
at library.wisc.edu, accessed 5 December 2008

Titles and issues

*''Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News'': 28 February 1874 to 22 January 1943, Nos. 1 to 3576 *''Sport and Country'': 5 February 1943 to 16 October 1957, Nos. 3577 to 3958 *''Farm and Country'': 30 October 1957 to December 1970, Nos. 3959 to 4200 *''Holly Leaves'': the Christmas edition of the titles, issued 1880 to 1969

References

External links

{{Italic title Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct magazines published in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1874 Magazines disestablished in 1970 Magazines published in London

History

Titles and issues

See also

References

External links