English Illustration 'The Sixties': 1855-70with Numerous Illustrations by Ford Madox Brown: A. Boyd Houghton: Arthur Hughes: Charles Keene: M. J. Lawless: Lord Leighton, P.r.a.: Sir J. E. Millais, P.r.a.: G. Du Maurier: J. W. North, R.a.: G. J. Pinwell: Dante Gabriel Rossetti: W. Small: Frederick Sandys: J. Mcneill Whistler: Frederick Walker, A.r.a.: And Others

In the 1860s, English illustration underwent a quiet revolution. Before photography dominated print, before illustration became mere decoration, a generation of artists pushed ink and woodblock toward something new: visual storytelling that could rival painting in emotional power. Gleeson White's 1897 study captures this pivotal moment when illustrators like Ford Madox Brown, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, and the young James McNeill Whistler began transforming periodical illustrations from functional commodities into autonomous artworks. White writes as both scholar and passionate collector, surveying the major illustrators and illustrated periodicals of the period while tracing how Victorian society's tastes shifted. He argues that the 1860s illustrators were wrongly overshadowed by their painter peers, and this volume was part of the effort to restore their reputation. The text combines critical assessment with bibliographical notes, offering both aesthetic commentary and practical reference for fellow collectors. For art historians, design enthusiasts, and anyone fascinated by the visual culture that preceded modern media, this remains a foundational document. It captures a moment when illustration was finding its voice, and the artists profiled here laid groundwork for everything that followed in graphic art.