This week we have added 142,416 new pages to The Archive. We are delighted to announce that we have now passed the 29 million mark in total searchable pages.
We have two brand new titles joining the archive this week, the Enniscorthy Guardian, published in Wexford and covering dates between 1889 and 2005, and the Kerryman, with pages covering the years between 1904 and 2002.
We also have updates this week to six of our existing titles. There are extensive nineteenth century updates to Scottish title the Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser, as well as further updates to Irish titles the Evening Herald (Dublin) and the Irish Independent. We have added new pages to the Manchester Evening News and the Tavistock Gazette.
This month at The Archive we are taking a special look at the history of cinema. This week saw further additions to our special cinema title The Bioscope for the year 1921. 1921 saw the release of iconic Charlie Chaplin film The Kid, the first film that Chaplin wrote himself, produced himself, directed himself and also starred in. It was the second highest grossing film of 1921, and is widely considered as one of the greatest films of the silent era.
The Bioscope offers a fascinating insight into the reaction towards the film at the time, and how it became such a commercial success. In a review, published on 18 August 1921, The Kid is labelled as a ‘masterpiece of whimsical humour, quaint fantasy and simple, irresistibly human pathos.’ Indeed, The Kid was groundbreaking in its blending of comedy and drama, and showed a different side to the well-known comedic talents of its star: ‘while amply displaying his great gifts as a comedian it also reveals his remarkable emotional powers that have hitherto only been hinted at.’
The Bioscope was a trade magazine, its intended audience the owners of cinemas and the like. It encourages its readers to invest in The Kid, prescribing the film as a good tonic to do away with bad business.
Elsewhere in our newly updated titles, the true star power of Charlie Chaplin is revealed. The Manchester Evening News looks forward with great adulation to Chaplin’s upcoming visit to the city, recording how ‘One of the first things he did on awakening to-day was to send a special message to the Manchester Evening News saying that he had definitely decided to visit Manchester at an early date.’ The article also records how Chaplin was forced to tour London by night, in order to escape mobbing, showing the likes of Beatlemania over forty years later were nothing new.
Manchester Evening News | 12 September 1921
NEW TITLES
Title |
Years Covered |
| Enniscorthy Guardian | 1889-1904, 1916-1917, 1921, 1987-2002, 2004-2005 |
| Kerryman | 1904-1912, 1988-1990, 1994-2000, 2002 |
UPDATED TITLES
This week we have updated one of our recently added titles.
You can learn more about each of the titles we add to every week by clicking on their names. On each paper’s title page, you can read a FREE sample issue, learn more about our current holdings, and our plans for digitisation.
| Title | Years Covered |
| Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser | 1865-1866, 1871-1872, 1874, 1876, 1878, 1883-1885, 1887, 1895-1896 |
| Evening Herald (Dublin) | 1991 |
| Irish Independent | 1992 |
| Manchester Evening News | 1919-1921 |
| Tavistock Gazette | 1857 |
| The Bioscope | 1921 |
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 look ahead to see what we’re going to add tomorrow.
