Alabama Illustrated:
Engravings and Articles from 19th
Century Illustrated Newspapers
In the nineteenth
century many Americans received news and learned about
the world beyond their home towns by readings
illustrated newspapers. Prior to the 1890s, the
technology did not exist to economically publish
photographs in newspapers, so some publishers employed
artists to draw and engrave images.
Newspaper engravings
provide a valuable but imperfect view of the past. An
artist in the field made a preliminary sketch and often
added notes. Sometimes that artist would finish the
drawing later from notes or memory, or it was completed
by a different artist at the newspaper’s offices.
Other engravings were copied faithfully from
photographs while some were drawn from the
artist’s imagination based on eyewitness accounts
or news reports. Once the paper sketch was completed,
another artist copied the paper drawing in reverse onto
an engraving plate, usually made of wood or copper. For
wood engraving, artisans cut away the blank spaces with
a knife or other tool, leaving a raised image. Wood
plates worked well in the printing presses of the time
and one plate could be used to print thousands of
images. For copper plates, an artist incised the image
into the surface of the copper using a steel tool
called a burin. For large or complex engravings,
several engravers divided the printing block into
sections with each working on a different part.
From the 1850s to the
1890s, more than 250 engraved images of Alabama were
published in national and international illustrated
newspapers. This digital exhibition includes a sampling
of illustrations and articles from four 19th century
newspapers: Harper’s Weekly and Frank
Leslie’s Illustrated Newspaper, both published in
New York; Ballou’s Pictorial, published in
Boston; and The Illustrated London News, a British
publication. The images included here are typical of
those published for many places. They include
portraits, landscapes, cityscapes and events such as
storms, parades, sports and work.
“Loading Cotton on the
Alabama River”
Ballou’s Pictorial, November
28, 1857
The spirited scene on
this page was sketched expressly for us upon the spot
by Mr. Killburn, and is a correct representation of the
manner of loading cotton on board the steamboats... (read the rest of this
article)
“The Alabama State
Fair”
Harper’s Weekly, November
27, 1858
The Fourth Annual Fair
of the Alabama State Agricultural Society was held in
Montgomery, the capital of the State, between the 1st
and 6th days of November, 1858. ... (read the rest of this article)
“Loading Cotton on the
Alabama River”
Illustrated London News, May 4,
1861
Our Number of April 13
contained some Illustrations of the methods of
conveying cotton in India to the ports of shipment; and
we follow up the subject-of special interest at the
present... (read
the rest of this article)
“The Union Expedition up the
Tennessee River”
Harper’s Weekly, March 1,
1862
On this page we
illustrate the Welcome of the Union men in Tennessee
and Alabama to the gunboats which ascended the
Tennessee River, after the fight at Fort Henry. ... (read the rest of this
article)
“President J. Davis’s
Inauguration at Montgomery”
Harper’s Weekly, March 9,
1861
On page 157 we publish a
picture of the Inauguration of President Davis, of the
Southern Confederacy, at Montgomery, Alabama, on
February 18, from a photograph... (read the rest of this article)
“War in North
Alabama”
Harper’s Weekly, August 16,
1862
We illustrate on pages
513 and 518 some interesting scenes of General
Mitchell’s campaign in North Alabama. ... (read the rest of the
article)
“The Murder of General
Robert L. M’Cook”
Harper’s Weekly, August 23,
1862, p. 530
We illustrate on page
541 the brutal and coldblooded murder of General Robert
L. M’Cook, who was assassinated by miscreants
calling themselves guerillas... (read the rest of the article)
“Huntsville,
Alabama”
Harper’s Weekly, March 19,
1864
This town, which is now
the head-quarters of General Logan, and a sketch of
which we give on page 188, is the only one in the South
that I have visited, says our correspondent... (read the rest of the
article)
“Mobile and its
Defenses”
Harper’s Weekly, March 26,
1864
We give on page 204 an
illustration showing the position of the Federal fleet
off the harbor of Mobile, together with the defenses of
the harbor. ...(read
the rest of the article)
“Mobile”
Harper’s Weekly, September
8, 1866, p. 566
This city is so
thoroughly uninteresting that your artist made but one
sketch there. That was the picture of the Magnolia
Avenue on the Shell Road-or rather what is left of
it... (read the
rest of the article)
“Mobile”
Harper’s Weekly, September
8, 1866, p. 566
This city is so
thoroughly uninteresting that your artist made but one
sketch there. That was the picture of the Magnolia
Avenue on the Shell Road-or rather what is left of
it... (read the
rest of the article)
