The Poster

This short-lived magazine which ran from 1898-1901 was arguably the most important journal in English devoted to the art of the poster. In addition to containing over 3,000 images several of which were in colour, it included interviews with and profiles of many of the leading names in poster design. These included Toulouse-Lautrec, Théophile Steinlen, Alphonse Mucha, Ethel Reed, Maxfield Parrish, Paul Berthon, Will Bradley, Arpad Basch, Jules Chéret, Jack Butler Yeats, Aubrey Beardsley, the Beggarstaff Brothers and more. The periodical also included articles on poster art in Russia, Austria, Hungary, Denmark, the Netherlands, Great Britain, and America, as well as articles on specific aspects of the poster including bicycle posters, political posters, railroad posters, theatre posters, the poster as a mirror of life, plagiarism in poster design, symbolism in advertising, etc. In its final year, the title was expanded to The Poster and Art Collector when it began to include articles on related aspects of art including the design of magazine covers, book covers, bookbinding (e.g. a long article on the Guild of Women Binders), pictorial postcards, playbills and theatrical caricatures. It was published by E. R. Alexander & Sons Leyton, Essex.

An identically titled publication appeared as the Official Organ of the British Poster Advertising Association, 1937-1940. It was a trade journal for those involved in the design, production and distribution of posters. These issues contain articles on the design of posters for Guinness and Bovril, railway posters, photo posters, humorous posters, posters for luxury products, German life insurance posters, etc. Designers whose work is featured included Ashley Havinden, Tom Purvis, Bert Thomas, F. C. Harrison, Gregory Brown and E. McKnight Kauffer. Published in London, England but it is not known if the two publications were related.

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