Canadian Illustrated News:
Images in the news: 1869-1883

Introduction

The Canadian Illustrated News site is a selection of almost 4000 images of people, places and events across Canada and around the world taken from the popular 19th-century magazine. Canadian Illustrated News was published in Montreal, Quebec by George Desbarats from 1869 to 1883 and was notable for its innovative use of half-tone photographs.

Experience a bird's eye view of Paris or Vienna. Contemplate Louis Riel's or Sir John A. MacDonald's portraits. Chuckle at the hapless experiences of boarders. Read how the Red River Rebellion or the Franco-Prussian War were reported. Revisit Canada's politics in the late 19^th century. See how life was lived in Canada's past!

Get a sense of the range of subjects covered by Canadian Illustrated News by browsing through the complete first and last issues of the magazine:

Much of the material on this website has been taken from Library and Archives Canada's complete holdings of the Canadian Illustrated News.

This site would not have been developed without the generous support and assistance of many individuals and organizations, to whom we express our sincere thanks. We would like to recognize the contribution of the Department of Canadian Heritage as well as that of the Library and Archives Canada, who simplified the scanning process by granting permission for use of their photos of illustrations from Canadian Illustrated News. Jim Burant, Chief of the Art, Photography and Philatelic Section of Library and Archives Canada and Murray Waddington, Chief of the National Gallery of Canada Library provided enthusiastic advice and assistance.

We also gratefully acknowledge the contribution of the Canada's Digital Collections Program of Industry Canada, and Canadian Heritage's Canadian Digital Cultural Content Initiative (CDCCI), whose financial assistance made this work possible.

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