Book Review: The World on Sunday
The World on Sunday: Graphic Art in Joseph Pulitzer’s Newspaper (1898-1911) by Nicholson Baker and Margaret Brentano
The book The World on Sunday is a stunning publication of the art of Pulitzer’s turn of the century paper. The newspaper business was a cut-throat one in that day and advantages were sought wherever they could be found. Pulitzer’s was his color press. This new technology allowed beautiful images to be printed by the thousand allowing his papers to become a centerpiece of Sunday life. The artists he employed would go on to pen the seminal strips Bringing Up Father and Krazy Kat. Others would go on to sway elections with their drawings and caricatures (see McDougall’s work on Theodore Roosevelt that so annoyed the President).
All of these works are presented in a sizable volume, on quality paper and perfect presentation. A very light amount of text accompanies the photos to give guidence on the artists and subjects. This is especially important now as these names may have faded from current memory but a quick spin of the Google allows their effect on their times to be seen. In all this is just a tremendously beautiful presentation.
One of the most interesting aspects to this book, however, is that it almost could not have come into being. You see, our libraries have trashed these old newspapers once they were put onto microfiche. All of this color would have been lost if it were not for the author stumbling upon the British Museum selling their copies. He quickly put together a foundation to fund the purchase and has since found a good home for the thousands of binders. Really makes you wonder how many other brilliant things have been lost forever.
Highly recommended.
