Harold Nelson and The Ladies' Field Magazine

Harold Nelson was not just a bookplate artist or designer of stamps which is what he is mostly remembered for today. Nelson also produced illustrations for many magazines during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

One such publication was an early forerunner of Vogue, The Ladies’ Field. First published in 1898 as a weekly magazine for women, it came out on Saturdays from March 1898 to March 1922. It focused on many subjects of interest for the Victorian woman including sports, art, books, pets, fashion and many other things.

Nelson created many images for this publication between 1898 and at least 1910.

What will follow (in the coming weeks) are a selection of images, either designs drawn, printed decorative headings or covers, for the magazine. 

Harold Nelson, The Ladies' Field, 1898.

Let’s start with the logo for the magazine which regularly appeared on the introductory page behind the cover. An elegant Victorian woman holding flowers, wearing a coat emblazoned with lion rampant. Fleur de lys decorate the background with the scroll drawn over the background decoration. 

The woman is most definitely elegance personified and a perfect image for the magazine, perhaps even the ideal reader.