I’m delighted to let you know that the Library now has access to The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 from Gale Cengage. Illustrated London News was the world’s first pictorial weekly newspaper and this archive gives access to the full run of this iconic illustrated newspaper.

You can access The Illustrated London News Historical Archive via the Databases A-Z list and the Newspapers & Magazine databases list.

The first issue of Illustrated London News was published on Saturday 14 May 1842 and as the world’s first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, it marked a revolution in journalism and news reporting.

The newspaper presented a vivid picture of British and world events and commissioned a large number of artists and draughtsmen to cover wars, royal events, scientific invention, and exploration.

Founded by Herbert Ingram it was a weekly publication up until the early 1970s after which publication became much more infrequent up until 2003 when it ceased publication.

The Illustrated London News gives you a different perspective on events happening during 1842-2003 and provides a valuable alternative voice to other newspaper archives the Library already has access to for that period e.g. The Times Digital Archive, The Guardian and The Observer Historical Archive, The Scotsman Historical Archive,  Daily Mail Historical Archive, The New York Times Historical Archive, etc. You can access these databases and the many more that are available via the Newspapers & Magazines databases list.

You can cross-search The Illustrated London News Historical Archive along with the other newspaper archives we have access to from Gale, via Gale’s NewsVault. You can also cross-search with other primary source archives from Gale via Gale Primary Sources.

You can access The Illustrated London News via the Databases A-Z list and the Newspapers & Magazine databases list.

You can access all the online newspaper archives already available at the Library via the Newspapers & Magazines database list.

Access is only available to current students and staff at University of Edinburgh.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology