Illustrated fiction

Apart from an occasional portrait or map, 18th century fiction was not usually illustrated, as publishers did not commission illustrations for new novels. In the novel The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, the author Henry Fielding refers to paintings by William Hogarth in order to explain what some of his characters look like. Illustrations were commissioned for already successful books. These illustrated versions were usually published as limited editions and sold through prior subscription. Henry Fuseli created a single frontispiece for the fourth edition of Tobias Smollett's The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. Thomas Stothard provided several illustrations for an edition of The Vicar of Wakefield published 30 years after its first publication in 1766. Near the end of the 18th century, new mechanical techniques allowed pictures to be printed cheaply. Illustrated classics became cheaply available, and were strongly remembered by their readers. John Ruskin was moved by illustrations of Robinson Crusoe crashing into rocks and escaping his wreck. Charles Dickens remembered the illustrations in many books more than the prose itself. == 19th century ==

At the beginning of the 19th century, illustration increased the sales of previously published fiction. In 1836, the publication of Charles Dickens's The Pickwick Papers in an illustrated serialized format revolutionised the publication of new fiction. This revolution lasted until 1870, as other authors and published attempted to emulate Dickens's success. Illustrations became common in the period. For publishers, new fiction with illustrations published serially was less of a commercial risk than the traditional unillustrated three-volume sets. Illustrations attracted readers and increased advertising revenue. Illustrations were used as advertisement's in booksellers windows. including George Cruikshank and Robert Seymour. Most of William Ainsworth's, Charles Lever's, William Thackeray's, and Anthony Trollope's major works were initially published in illustrated monthly parts. Later, novelists preferred to publish their writing in illustrated magazines. Thomas Hardy often did this. George Meredith did this twice, and George Eliot once. 19th century author artists included William Makepeace Thackeray and George du Maurier. Prose frequently took second place to illustration. == 20th century ==

The amount of illustrated fiction that was published declined from the beginning of the 20th century to the 1930s. By the 1930s, illustrations were rarely used in adult's novels. Illustrated serious fiction was not popular over the rest of the century. The decline in the publication of serials, rise in labour costs, and competition from film, television, and photojournalism contributed to its decline. There was also less demand from readers. A review of the 1915 film adaptation of Vanity Fair said that "the reels make a set of illustrations superior to the conventional pen-pictures of a deluxe edition." Modern literary fiction was often not well-suited to illustration, for example the introspective novels of E. M. Forster and Virginia Woolf. Illustrations were used on book covers to attract buyers, but not used within the novel. Similar to the period before 1836, illustrations were not commissioned for new books, but were commissioned for established classics, usually for a limited luxury edition. Serious novels are not illustrated, and illustrated fiction is generally associated with serialized or short fiction that is published in popular but not intellectually prestigious magazines. Children and comics readers became the only fiction readers whose fiction was generally illustrated. == See also ==