This week we have added 91,496 pages to The Archive.  We have added four brand new titles, and updated six existing titles.  This week we’ve added social and satirical titles for the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.  These titles offered light relief, political commentary, and all the day’s gossip and fashion.

Ally Sloper’s Half Holiday ‘being a selection, side-splitting, sentimental, and serious for the benefit of old boys, young boys, odd boys generally, and even girls’ featured a cast of cartoon characters headed up by the eponymous Ally Sloper.  The paper used cartoons and caricatures to comment on the news of the day.  A product of its times, the ‘half-holiday’ referred to the Saturday afternoon half-days of the working classes, their only real time off.  The newspaper, or comic, as it probably better described, was extremely popular and produced spin-off merchandise and a fan club.

Pearson’s Weekly hosted an eclectic mix of material ‘to interest, to elevate, to amuse’ including science fiction.  On 12 June 1897 the paper began publishing HG Wells’ Invisible Man.  The story was published over several weeks.  The paper combined serialised fiction with quizzes and prize giveaways to ensure a loyal readership.

Clifton Society published ‘fashion, sport, social events’ for Clifton, Redland and Bristol in the south-west of England. Clifton and Redland were wealthy suburbs of Bristol and the newspaper catered to their tastes and aspirations.  The paper published news of local social events and the goings on at the royal court.

New titles

You can learn more about each of the titles we have added to this week by clicking on their names below. On each paper’s title page you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.

Register now and explore the Archive

You can keep up to date with all the latest additions by visiting the recently added page.  You can even discover what we’re going to add tomorrow!

Updated titles