1.1 Categorizing historical documents: what is a red book?  (Page 5/5)

We find 53 results, none of which pertain, exactly, to our period. However, by looking closely at the entries we see that political cartoons seem tohave been prevalent all the way back to the middle of the eighteenth century.

Periodical search

Select the record andscroll down to the location listings. Notice that Vol. 1 begins in 1841.

First we have to figure out which volumes we need. We're looking for information about Gen. Charles Gordon, the protagonist of he "Egyptian Red Book,"from around the time that the satire was published in 1885. (See Getting the Whole Story From "The Egyptian Red Book": General Charles Gordon in Khartoum for more information.) If Vol. 1 came out in 1841 and Vol. 218 came out in 1966, then we might assume that Vol. 100 would fall around 1900. If wehave around 200 volumes over about 120 years, with a little division and subtraction we can place the 1880's somewhere in the 70-80 volume range. Let's order volumes75-95 and have a look. We are going to need the call number title and publication year, so make a note of these. At Fondren, as at most other libraries, you can requestitems from storage through a web interface; here we will select the User Services option at the top of the page.

You will notice that we are required to provide both the volume numbers and the years of publication. Because these are not provided for us we will enter theapproximate volume numbers for the years we want and explain the possible discrepancy in the text box provided next to the word Notes.

Another way to find information in nineteenth century periodicals is to use an index such as 19th Century Masterfile (your institution needs to be a subscriber for you to search this resource). Unfortunately, Punch is not one of the journals indexed by this research tool, but many other sources--including the Times of London and the New York Times--are.

Punch

Our calculations placed our period in a volume somewhere in the 70's to 80's range and upon inspection we find it in volume 88-89.

Comparing punch to the egyptian red book

In the issue dated February 14, 1885, we find a poem and cartoon expressing profound sadness at Gordon's demise.

By locating and reviewing the pages of a contemporary periodical we have broadened our understanding of the popular views of the events in the Sudan. Wecan now compare Punch with the Egyptian Red Book in our project to specify exactly what the Red Book is. By this we mean not only its style or presentation of theinformation, but also the political leanings of its authors, the demographic and political perspectives of its intended audience, and the possible purpose and goals ofthe publication in the existing political climate.