In his opinion, this older paper, which had begun in 1864, had made no attempt to keep up-to-date in terms of the techniques it used for its illustrations, and had long relied on Paris (rather than London) as the source of its fashion plates.
In 1887 Gibbons began pioneering the printing colored pictures of pretty women rather than a seasonable subject (such as Santa Claus) for the Lady's Pictorial Christmas annuals.
[5] Another picture by Corcos, "The Queen of the Roses," mentioned by Gibbons in his 1895 interview as he pointed to the original painting on his office wall, sold 175,000 copies.
[4] When asked about the success of the magazine in the crowded market of "ladies' papers" Gibbons said (in his 1895 interview) it was due in part to the "sincere interest" and perfectionist impulse that he put into it; their high artistic standards, involving illustrations commissioned from many "strongly original unconventional artists;" their "large employment of women writers;" and (perhaps most importantly) because he was "splendidly backed, both with unlimited capital and sound advice, by Sir William and Mr. Charles Ingram, of the Illustrated London News.
More than half the pages, however, are occupied by answers to correspondents on music, art, fashion, fancy work, furnishings, children, pets, health, cookery, etiquette, beauty, antiques, graphology, and other subjects.
They include brief profiles (and some photographic portraits) of nearly forty of the major women journalists of the era (and usefully reveal some of their pseudonyms, although others, who preferred to remain anonymous, were not covered).
[13] In one of her autobiographies, the American journalist Elizabeth Banks (who moved to England in 1893 and gained a reputation for her investigative reporting, often involving impersonating working class women) relates how Alfred Gibbons took three hours to come up with an undercover assignment for her to go to Kent and pick strawberries.
Banks describes Gibbons as gruff, but very kind and considerate: he offered the "most liberal terms I had ever received for any London work," immediately paid her for the extra column that she required beyond what he had originally allocated, and was willing to cover her doctor's bill as part of her expenses.
Some of the prestigious contributors of stories to the Lady's Pictorial Summer and Christmas numbers are Rhoda Broughton, Marie Corelli, Violet Hunt and Margaret Oliphant.
[3] Marie Corelli is known to have contributed three articles to the Lady’s Pictorial Christmas numbers in 1891, 1894, and 1895, apparently based on press reports rather than surviving copies of the relevant issues in libraries.
Joyce does not seem to have drawn on a specific issue as a direct source, but in a more general way parodies the language of advertisements printed in women’s magazines throughout the first half of this section of his narrative.