The Tatler

The Sphere and Tatler, Ltd., Great New Street, London E.C.

The Tatler was published from the same offices as The Sphere, and was one of the Great Eight magazines published in London in the early 20th century. The others included The Illustrated London News, The Sketch and The Graphic, all of which printed Blampied's drawings between 1913 and the early 1920s.

The Tatler was established in 1901 by the journalist Clement Shorter who also founded The Sphere in 1900. The Tatler was a magazine for members of high society and almost deliberately did not feature the events of the First World War, as can be seen by the statement on the cover of the issue to the left. It is one of the few magazines that published Blampied's drawings that still exists, in name at least, although it now has a new publisher.

The Tatler was one of the few magazines that printed an index of all authors and artists in the bound volumes, so these have been searched, rather than looking through every page, which can be quite tedious. However this does rely on the indexing, so small uncredited drawings may have been missed. Blampied's work was sporadic, but did cover a long period of nearly 30 years, from 1912 to 1940.

The drawing in the Christmas issue in 1935 is a lovely example of Blampied's watercolour style. He used to place his paper on a sheet of glass and make it damp, then add the background colours which seeped through the paper. This can be seen in the blue behind the artist's hat. When it was dry he could add the main features. This process helps to give depth to his drawings and a subtly shaded background.

The cover of the magazine in 1916

Numbering: Each volume was 13 issues a quarter, all issues sequentially numbered.

Price: 6 pence in 1916; 7 pence in 1917; 9 pence in 1918; 1 shilling in 1920; Christmas numbers twice the usual price.

Pages: 44 pages in 1916

Dimensions: 355 x 258 mm in 1916; 315 x 240 mm in 1935

Editor: Clement Shorter from 1900-1926

Printer: Eyre & Spottiswode Ltd, His Majesty's Printers, East Harding Street, London E.C.

Blampied issues: 9

Type: MO = monochrome drawing; CO = colour drawing; the number indicates the number of drawings or pages.

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— 1912 —

Issue: 10-Apr-1912, vol. 44, no. 563, Supplement, page xii. Price: 6d. Type: MO1. Title: Marooned.

— 1914 —

Issue: 2-Dec-1914, vol. 54, no. 701, Xmas Number supplement, page 19. Price: 1/-. Type: MO1. Title: "You Hun!" "You Germ!".

— 1916 —

Issue: 19-Jan-1916, vol. 54, no. 760, page 83. Price: 6d. Type: CO1. Title: Darn it..

[This is the earliest published example of the use of the name Blam as a diminuitive of Blampied.]

Issue: 2-Feb-1916, vol. 54, no. 762, page 150. Price: 6d. Type: CO1. Title: The ingratiating little rogue - is so "attentive to youth".

Issue: 2-Feb-1916, vol. 54, no. 762, page 147. Price: 6d. Type: CO1. Title: A little "offensive" - with a "ripping" result.

Issue: 29-Nov-1916, vol. 62, no. 805, Xmas Number with coloured supplement, page 3. Price: 1/-. Type: CO1. Title: The Battle of Flowers. [No image available]

— 1919 —

Issue: 26-Nov-1919, vol. 74, no. 961, Xmas number Supplement, page 11. Price: 2/-. Type: CO1. Title: Scene in the house. The first reading of the bill. [Image not available].

— 1921 —

Issue: 6-Jul-1921, vol. 81, no. 1045, page 24. Price: 1/-. Type: CO1. Title: The finishing touch.

— 1935 —

Issue: 22-Nov-1935, vol. 138, no. 1795A, Christmas Number, page 40. Price: 2/-. Type: CO1. Title: The Christmas "after dinner" dream of a "Modern Old Master".

— 1940 —

Issue: 26-Jun-1940, vol. 156, no. 2035, page 514. Price: 1/-. Type: MO1. Title: Yes, Ossifer - I know she's cross-eyed, but it don't show in the milk".

[A cartoon with a similar title was shown at an exhibition Blampied arranged in Jersey in aid of the St. John Ambulance War Appeal, which was opened on 1st December 1939 by the Lieutenant Governor, Major-General J.M.R. Harrison (admission 5 shillings). All 30 items were for sale. The caption of item 18 was Eh but yes, - I knows my cow is cross-eyed - but it don't show in the milk. Blampied may have revised the cartoon and sent it to his agent in London, his brother John, who sold it to The Tatler. It appeared in the magazine a few days before the Channel Islands were occupied by the Germans, and was Blampied's last drawing to appear in print in a magazine until 1946.]