Newnes Pictorial Knowledge (Vols 1-10) – Introduction and Volume One

The 10 volumes (minus atlas and dictionary) from c. 1950

INTRODUCTION

This encyclopedic set has a long history, beginning in June 1930 with 8 volumes. It was reprinted in January 1931 and August 1931 and again twice in 1932 and a Second Edition came out in May 1933 (reprinted a month later!) which was subsequently reprinted in February and December 1934. An advert in The Scotsman on 22 August 1930 was looking to hire sales reps for this new work.

By 1947 I found it was still composed of 8 volumes. It was still running in 1957 as The Bookseller of 10 August states “continues as a firm family favourite” with a special Australian edition in 1958. Newnes declared – somewhat prematurely – in the Belfast Telegraph (28 October 1931) it was the “most magnificent production of the 20th Century”! The first edition had a General Editor of H. A. Pollock, Associate Editor, Enid Blyton, Technical Editor, A. C. Marshall, and Art Editor A. H. J. Humphreys. Published by George Newnes in the “Home Library Book Company” imprint initially as “Pictorial Knowledge” and later with the publisher’s name in the title and was bound in black initially later becoming red – early red ones with a criss-cross pattern on the covers, then later with the oil lamp colophon on the spine, and still later a vertical stripe down the cover. At some point – and guessing based on print technologies, later versions also had transparent plates showing the interior of a bee, a flower and some buildings.

When exactly the new editions were printed with an editorial shake-up, I’m not sure, but based on the war intervening, I’d guess that 1951 is a likely approximate date especially as internal evidence mentions “at the end of 1949”. The General Editors were now R.H. Poole, Peter Finch, Walter Shepherd, and A.H.J. Humphreys. By the time the copies I own arrived, Cedric Dover was added to the list. My set has internal evidence for 1957 onwards which I’ll share in the overview of Volume Two.

VOLUME CONTENTS

Here are the breakdowns according to each volume of my set.

VOLUME ONE: The story of the world in the days of long ago; The story of animal life – creatures of the air, land and sea; The wonder of plant life in forest, field and garden
VOLUME TWO: The romance of history – tales of the Greeks and the Persians; The romance of history – Tales of Ancient Rome; The romance of history – England under the Romans, Danes and Normans; The romance of history – England in the Middle Ages; The romance of history – Britain’s struggles towards her days of greatness; True tales of high adventure – Pioneers by land and sea; True tales of high adventure – In the days of the great explorers; True tales of high adventure – The conquest of the Polar regions; True tales of high adventure – Some heroes of our time; From the dawn of time to the present day
VOLUME THREE: The story of the world and its people – Great Britain and Ireland; The story of the world and its people – Countries of the British Commonwealth and nations; The story of the world and its people – Lands near and far, of our colonial empire
VOLUME FOUR: The story of the world and its people – Our neighbours and friends across the Channel; The story of the world and its people – through the storied lands of the Middle East; The story of the world and its people – In the ancient empires of the Far East; The story of the world and its people – A great nation whose history began with the Pilgrim fathers; The story of the world and its people – Countries along the pan-American highway and in South America; Telling of the products we send to other countries – and about the goods they send us in return
VOLUME FIVE: Meteorology and what it means – the rain, the snow, the winds and the tides; Our engineers and their work; The stories that scientists can tell us – about heat, light and sound; How steam and petrol work for man; Fable, myth and legend
VOLUME SIX: Treasures won from the earth’s crust – The romance of coal, iron and steel; Treasures won from the earth’s crust – Metals that serve us in a hundred ways; magnetism and electricity – a great discovery and its many developments; Famous inventions and how they were evolved – What master minds have done for the good of man; Services we maintain for the common good – the work they do and how it is carried out; The world and its work – The story of some great industries; The world and its work – Agriculture – producing food from the land
VOLUME SEVEN: Great painters of all nations – how they lived and what they achieved; Literature through the ages – The lives of the great poets; The lives of the great composers – a story of music and musicians; Literature through the ages – Great books and their writers; Wonders of architecture – The story of the builder and his art; Great thinkers of all nations – From the ancient philosophers to the scientists of to-day
VOLUME EIGHT: The freedom of the seas – the story of our ships and the sailors who man them; The wonders of the heavens – the story of astronomers and their work; The magic art of writing; A guide to good manners for boys and girls; The story of the human body – a marvellous machine and what it does; Favourite hobbies – Pastimes at home and out of doors; Favourite hobbies – Things to make and do: Models and model making; Favourite hobbies – Things to make and do: Handcrafts of many kinds
VOLUME NINE: The story of the early civilisations in the world’s history – how learning and understanding spread from the Mediterranean; How Britain and other countries of the world are governed – concerning Parliaments and people: Local government and courts of law; A children’s treasury of verse – Little masterpieces of to-day and yesterday; Your own special corner: Reading, writing and arithmetic – a helping hand for tiny folk; First steps in drawing, “How to make” and geography – a helping hand for tiny folk; Familiar things and how they are made – industries that serve our everyday needs; The secret of man’s supremacy – about the mental equipment of the human being; Questions and answers on things that interest you and me
VOLUME TEN: Factual Index; Our world today
ATLAS (which I do not have)
DICTIONARY (which I do not have)

ARTISTS WORK IN THE ENCYCLOPEDIA

Here I want to mention artist’s works I can identify or that particularly attract me. I notice in wading through all 10 volumes that many images which are dated must have been reprinted from earlier editions of the encyclopedia and the caption under some “Specially drawn/ painted for this work by ‘Xyz'” makes me wonder if these are unique to this edition!

VOLUME 1 ARTISTS:

G. F. Morrell drew a layered geology diagram (p.5) which has been reproduced a lot as have the many diagrammatic maps of WWI. I suspect this page was reprinted from a colour late earlier in the 20th century
Neave Parker – a very prolific artists drew “Eighty Million Years Ago” showing giant crocodiles (p.9) and on p.28 two illos of dinosaurs (credited to Illustrated London News)
Alice R. Woodward – drew pages 13, 15 and 23 in delicate works showing the ‘ancestor of the shark’, marine life and ‘monsters of sea and river’. She lived from 1862-1951 so I suspect again this is a reprint from somewhere
Nina Scott-Langley‘s lovely red squirrel can be seen below. She illustrated animal life in various magazines and books upto c. 1950
Ernest Aris (Alfred Ernest Walter George Aris, FZS, SGA) is an old favourite that needs no introduction. He illustrated pages 201-204 with birds and 240 with fish
Roland Green – another prolific artists of the era, drew page 223’s ‘Titmouse family’
E. C. Mansell whose name I’ve seen elsewhere – with such a solid signature – but who is a blank to me – He (or she) illustrated a lot of natural history subjects and also drew in magazines of c. 1914-1924. Their books appear to have been published between the 40s and early 1960s.
Dennis Adams has a colour plate in this volume of “Barrier Reef waters” making me think he night be Australian.
Unknown – Take a look at the initials and see if you can help me say who this artist is below who drew “British Wild Flowers”.