Detailed Record
London Figaro, The;
vol 1 no 1, 17 May 1870 - vol 1 no 1202, 29 Dec 1880
then: Figaro. no 1203, 01 Jan 1881 - no 2239, 31 Dec 1898+?
London,Middlesex
Editor:
James Mortimer
Proprietor:
James Mortimer
Publisher:
(Messrs) Bowles Brothers and Co (Paris)
W.J. Brown (1881)
F. Dane (Jan 1898)
John Marshall (Apr 1898)
Ranken and Co (1870)
George Slater (Jun 1898)
W.J. Brown (1881)
F. Dane (Jan 1898)
John Marshall (Apr 1898)
Ranken and Co (1870)
George Slater (Jun 1898)
Printer:
W.J. Brown
Odhams Ltd (1898)
Ranken and Co (1870)
Temple Press Ltd (1898)
Odhams Ltd (1898)
Ranken and Co (1870)
Temple Press Ltd (1898)
Contributors:
William Archer
Ernest Bendall
Percy Betts
William Schwenck Gilbert
John Baker Hopkins
Frank Marshall
Edwin J. Milliken
Clement Scott
Emile Zola
Ernest Bendall
Percy Betts
William Schwenck Gilbert
John Baker Hopkins
Frank Marshall
Edwin J. Milliken
Clement Scott
Emile Zola
Size:
31cm, 16pp; 59cm, 4pp (1870); 32cm, 16pp (1881); 34cm
Price:
1d (1870, 1887)
Frequency:
daily (1870 - 18 Mar 1871); twice weekly (Wed, Sat 1881); weekly (Sat 1887, 1898)
Illustration:
engravings, photographs, sketches
Departments:
topics of the hour, notice, House of Commons, metropolitan news, parliamentary profiles, cream of the press, Parisian topics, notes on 'change, fine arts, music, dramatic, advertisements (1870); in the city, musical notes, literary chit-chat (1881); poetry, Parisian gossip, musical notes, stall talk and small talk (1898); stories, shavings, l'assommoir, technical education, stagnation parliament, comedie Francaise, technical education, phaeton afloat, theatre
Sources:
BUCOP.; Ellis III, Ted R. "Victorian Comic Journals." British Literary Magazines. Ed. Alvin Sullivan (1984), v.3, Appendix G.; Ellis, Ted R. 3rd. "Burlesque Dramas in the Victorian Comic Magazines." VPR 14:4 (Winter 1982): 138-142.; Gray, Donald A. "A List of Comic Periodicals Published in Great Britain, 1800-1900, with a Prefatory Essay." VPN no 15 (Mar 1972): 2-39.; Uffelman, 1992; Sell’s Dictionary p.150
Histories:
VPR 15:4, p.138, 141.; Bourne, H.R. Fox. English Newspapers. vol 2. New York: Russell & Russell, 1966.; Ellis III, Ted R. "The Dramatist and the Comic Journal in England, 1830-1870". Diss. 29: 2209A Northwestern U, 1968.; Rayner, William. "Comic Newspapers." N&Q 9:4s (Jun 1872): 479-480.
Comments:
"The newspapers of the day are, in general terms, so intensely amusing, so full of variety, so replete with exciting and interesting intelligence, that we have thought a 'serious' journal might, by contrast, obtain a fair share of success. Our aim and purpose will, therefore, be to attain the highest degree of owl-like solemnity vouchsafed to mortal gazetteers. We shall avoid the light and mirth-provoking political disquisitions of our vivacious morning contemporaries, as quite beyond our reach, out of our line, and, in fact, so exquisitely done elsewhere that any attempt on our part to imitate these 'chefs d'oeuvre' of current comic literature would be immediately coughed down, as quite too presumptuous to be tolerated for a single instant" (Egotistical 1:1, p.1).
"Fox-Bourne characterizes it as 'serio-comic' and satiric in 'handling of political and social as well as theatrical affairs'" (II, 312). "Interesting mixture, and link between, comic journalism and society papers of last decades of century. Topical comment light and whimsical rather than satiric, and a large part of its purpose is to purvey news and gossip, rather than comic features or commentary" (Gray, Donald A.; p.24).
William Archer wrote his first reviews in this magazine in 1879. This is one of the magazines which refined the techniques of the burlesque sketch and extended its focus beyond melodrama. The sketch developed into a witty and effective form of drama criticism.
"London Figaro's burlesques of plays in the seventies accomplished the same critical ends as the series in Fun, Punch, and Tomahawk...this seriocomic weekly (London Figaro) and its editor, James Mortimer, have been credited with leading the revival of responsible drama criticism" (VPR 14:4, winter 1982: 141). Augustin Filon, in The English Stage, paid tribute to Mortimer and his magazine: "Perhaps one of the men to whom criticism owes its emancipation most is James Mortimer, the founder of the London Figaro...He not only opened his columns to Clement Scott and William Archer, but, far from disclaiming connection with them in cases of complaint, he backed them up sturdily..."(tr. Frederic Whyte London: John Milne, 1897): 199 VPR 14:4, winter 1982: Notes 143). "Augustin Filon attributes the 'emancipation' of Victorian drama criticism to this 'gallant and witty little journal' under Mortimer's editorship" (Ellis III).
This is "a daily humorous paper, subsequently changed to a weekly paper with cartoons" (Rayner, p.479).
"Fox-Bourne characterizes it as 'serio-comic' and satiric in 'handling of political and social as well as theatrical affairs'" (II, 312). "Interesting mixture, and link between, comic journalism and society papers of last decades of century. Topical comment light and whimsical rather than satiric, and a large part of its purpose is to purvey news and gossip, rather than comic features or commentary" (Gray, Donald A.; p.24).
William Archer wrote his first reviews in this magazine in 1879. This is one of the magazines which refined the techniques of the burlesque sketch and extended its focus beyond melodrama. The sketch developed into a witty and effective form of drama criticism.
"London Figaro's burlesques of plays in the seventies accomplished the same critical ends as the series in Fun, Punch, and Tomahawk...this seriocomic weekly (London Figaro) and its editor, James Mortimer, have been credited with leading the revival of responsible drama criticism" (VPR 14:4, winter 1982: 141). Augustin Filon, in The English Stage, paid tribute to Mortimer and his magazine: "Perhaps one of the men to whom criticism owes its emancipation most is James Mortimer, the founder of the London Figaro...He not only opened his columns to Clement Scott and William Archer, but, far from disclaiming connection with them in cases of complaint, he backed them up sturdily..."(tr. Frederic Whyte London: John Milne, 1897): 199 VPR 14:4, winter 1982: Notes 143). "Augustin Filon attributes the 'emancipation' of Victorian drama criticism to this 'gallant and witty little journal' under Mortimer's editorship" (Ellis III).
This is "a daily humorous paper, subsequently changed to a weekly paper with cartoons" (Rayner, p.479).
Location:
complete? runs: LO/N38 A 1-29:2239 (17 May 1870-31 Dec 1898); partial runs: CA/U-1 A 1051 (19 Jul 1879); N.America: see Fulton; ULS 2&3
Reproduced by permission, British Newspaper Library
Reproduced by permission, British Newspaper Library