Launched in December 1869 in direct competition to The Illustrated London News, (ILN) which first appeared in 1842, The Graphic set out to upstage its competitor through the quality and amount of its illustrations (including colour) and the paper it was printed on. Together, however, the two periodicals dominated nineteenth-century British journalism. With circulations far in excess of The Times, the extent of the news – including considerable foreign reporting – opinion and miscellaneous data of these two publications provides an invaluable resource for researchers and historians.

As with the ILN, this complementary one-stop reference volume brings together the complete archive of all reports, features, illustrations and incidental commentaries relating to Japan from the first report of 5 February1870 discussing Japan’s recent civil war, the overthrow of the ‘Shiogoon or Tyocoon’, the restoration of the Emperor (Mikado) and a vindication of Britain’s ‘policy of firmness’ vis à vis Japan. Its concluding report on 16 December 1899 (the year of the ratification of the ending of the Unequal Treaties was concluded) notes: ‘No power in the world stands in a more delicate and difficult position than Japan does just now.’

This volume of 400 pages includes an 8-page plate section featuring a selection of The Graphic’s colour printing relating to Japan, a full cross-referenced Index by J.E. Hoare, together with an historical perspective by former British Ambassador to Japan Sir Hugh Cortazzi and an introduction to The Graphic in the context of nineteenth-century media history by Terry Bennett.