The Anglo-Zulu War 1879 through the pages of The Graphic

_The Graphic_ was one of the foremost illustrated ‘gentleman’s magazines’ of the late Nineteenth century.It was founded by the artist and social reformer, William Luson Thomas (1830-1900), an engraver who had established a publishing company, Illustrated Newspapers Ltd, which introduced the magazine on 4 December 1869.The large-format magazine offered around 25 pages of text and illustrations per issue, featuring articles on every subject including current politics, overseas news, agriculture, sport, the arts, fashion, royalty, modern literature, religion and science.Many leading writers of the day contributed to _The Graphic_ over the years but it became best known - and highly regarded - for the quality of its artwork, producing some of the most accomplished illustrations to appear in the contemporary press. Like most British magazines and newspapers, _The Graphic_ showed little awareness of the development of events in South Africa at the beginning of 1879 and the possibility of a w