| 'Librarians
and students of the Victorian period should be aware of
the pamphlets published in this series, since they open
an era (and in the present instance, a form of
publication, the illustrated weekly) not fully covered
by other indexing sources--not even by The Wellesley
Index. . . Law's index cites fiction published in
3,271 numbers of The Illustrated London News and
1,674 of The Graphic, giving for each periodical
a page of very full publishing information (proprietors,
editors, format, circulation, issues indexed),
an introduction that summarizes their importance in
fiction publishing and
in the British publishing scene, and indexes of fiction
in both titles, first an author index that omits page
numbers, then a chronological index that
lists each title issue-by-issue with full publishing
information.' Robert Balay, author of Early Periodical Indexes (2000) Review in Choice (American Library Association) May 2002 |
|
'Law's brief introductory essay provides a neat summary of
the development of these two influential newspapers in the
last quarter of the century: the technological
developments, the centrist editorial positions, the
cautious contributions to the advancement of women's
rights, the kind and quality of the illustrations that
accompanied the fiction. Law surveys the market for
fiction, the effect of syndication on markets beyond
London, and even the fee an author might be paid for a
serial. He reminds us of the influence of A. P. Watt, the
first successful
literary agent, who, after negotiating sales with the
metropolitan papers
for his authors, was frequently employed by those same
papers to sell the
same serials to papers in the United States and the
colonies. Law's indexes, arranged both chronologically and by author, provide both a handy finding tool and a fascinating record of the shifting fortunes of periodical fiction. ... Like the earlier guides in this series, Law's fiction indexes for the ILN and Graphic are important resources for scholars working in Victorian fiction or periodicals research and, as such, are essential tools for any research library.' Richard Fulton, Whatcom Community College Review in Victorian Periodicals Review 36:3 (Fall 2003) |
| 'New
from Victorian Fiction Research Guides is Graham Law's Indexes to Fiction, a
useful index of over 3,000 fiction numbers of The Illustrated London News
from 1842 to 1901 and over 1,500 numbers of The Graphic from 1869
to 1901. The book includes author and chronological
indexes to fiction, detailed publishing information, six
full-page illustrations, and summaries of each
periodical's importance.' William Baker, Northern Illinois University, and Halie A. Crocker, Purdue University Comments in Year's Work in English Studies 82:7 (2003) 16 |