Publisher

Wood Engraver.

The publisher of illustrated journalism known as Frank Leslie was born Henry Carter in Ipswich, Suffolk, England, in 1821, the son of a successful glove manufacturer. In school, the boy showed himself to be a talented artist, and he learned to put his skill to use as an engraver by the time he was a teenager. In 1842, when he was twenty-one, he took charge of the engraving department of the Illustrated London News, a successful paper that pioneered the use of illustrations in a newspaper. Engravings, which were typically done in steel at the time, had been restricted to journals because the illustrations took so long to render. Carter worked effectively in wood, a faster medium, so he was able to meet the deadlines demanded by newspapers.

Efficiency.

At the time, there were not more than twenty wood engravers in...