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Described at the time in the pages of the Western Mail as ‘one of the most sensational events in the criminal annals of England,’ the arrest and prosecution of Oscar Wilde on charges of ‘gross indecency’ is a tragic chapter in LGBTQ history, and represents the wider persecution faced by the LGBTQ community at the time, as well as throughout the ensuing decades.Oscar Wilde | Illustrated London News | 27 February 1892In this special blog, we will explore how newspapers at the…

As part of our celebration of Pride Month, we are delighted to welcome a very special guest post from Vicky Iglikowski-Broad, who works as the Principal Diverse Histories Records Specialist at The National Archives. In this blog, Vicky Iglikowski-Broad explores one of the latest specialist titles to be added to the British Newspaper Archive, namely Link. Read on to discover more.Register now and explore The ArchiveAmongst the myriad of publications that developed in the early 20th century was…

Not only did the flapper turn on its head traditional notions of femininity – she was arguably the first incarnation of youth culture in Britain and beyond. She was a good time girl, she drank, she smoked, she drove, she partied, she wore the latest outrageous fashions, she came home late – and in doing so, she preempted the youth culture movements of later decades.A study by Domergue | The Tatler | 3 June 1925In this special blog, we explore what being a flapper…

This week at The Archive we have traversed the length and breadth of England in order to bring you new and updated titles from Somerset all the way to Northumberland. In all, we have added 75,198 brand new pages – with two exciting new titles joining us, namely the West Bridgford Advertiser and the Beds and Herts Pictorial.Register now and explore the ArchivePublished in Nottingham every Saturday, the West Bridgford Advertiser was the local newspaper of ‘South Nottingham, Sneiton, Basford,…

Novelist Edwin Muir attempted in 1926 to identify those writers who were ‘influencing the development of literature’ (Nottingham Journal, October 1926) in a series of essays entitled Transition. His choices, which included Virginia Woolf, James Joyce and D.H. Lawrence, amongst others, survived the test of time and as such represent the most celebrated authors of the modernist period.Graphic | 26 October 1929Using reviews taken from the pages of the British Newspaper Archive, and limiting our search to only those written in the 1920s,…

‘Short hair is not a whim of fashion; it is significant for an adaptation to modern existence,’ so proclaimed hairdresser Monsieur Eugène in 1929 (Britannia and Eve, August 1929).In this special blog, using pages from the British Newspaper Archive, we explore one of the most iconic fashions of the 1920s – the bob. We look at its cultural impact, its most famous wearers, and how women achieved and maintained the perfect bobbed style.Want to learn more? Register now and explore The…

The 1920s were time of greater freedoms and liberation for women. They cropped their hair, their dresses got shorter and shorter; it was socially acceptable for them to drive, drink and smoke. But such freedoms would not have been possible without the pioneering women who not only shaped the decade, but the many years to come.Graphic | 27 July 1929In this special blog, using the British Newspaper Archive, we take a look at five of these remarkable women and their work.…

The 1920s were a decade of firsts and innovations, and many of the things we take for granted today have their roots in this eventful decade. From televisions to fridges, from roller coasters to Branston Pickle, from crosswords to death rays, we take a look at just a few of the brilliant and bizarre inventions that stemmed from the 1920s – using advertisements and articles from the British Newspaper Archive.Want to learn more? Register now and explore The Archive1. TELEVISION…

The Illustrated London News, the world’s first illustrated newspaper, debuted in 1842.  Over the decades, the publishers expanded into the ‘great 8’ titles: Sketch, Sphere, Tatler, Graphic, Bystander, Illustrated Sporting and Dramatic News, and Britannia and Eve.  In 1928, the Illustrated London News published an illustration of the interior of their own offices at Inveresk House, ‘a hive of journalistic industry’.Discover more about the history of the Illustrated London NewsIn the image, you can see the offices of the individual editors…

Geoff Dibb, author of Oscar Wilde – A Vagabond with a Mission, got in touch to tell us about his research and how The British Newspaper Archive has helped.We’d love to hear about your own research experiences – email [email protected] to tell us your story.**************Researching Oscar Wilde in librariesI began researching Oscar Wilde’s lecture tours of Britain and Ireland after reading a letter from Wilde, written while lecturing in Leeds. I live about 10 miles south and was amazed that…