Bell's Life In London, And Sporting Chronicle; Combining, With The News Of The Week, A Rich Repository Of Fashion Wit And Humour And The Interesting Incidents Of Real Life -

London: Published at Four O'Clock Every Saturday Afternoon by Messrs. Smith's, 192, Strand, London, 1827. A four-page advertisement for Bell's paper, printed on two conjugate leaves by B. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. First sheet illustrated with numerous sporting subjects in the style of George Cruikshank. 1 vols. Folio. Fine, fresh copy. A four-page advertisement for Bell's paper, printed on two conjugate leaves by B. Bensley, Bolt Court, Fleet Street. First sheet illustrated with numerous sporting subjects in the style of George Cruikshank. 1 vols. Folio. Bell's Life in London was a rival to Pierce Egan's Life in London and Sporting Guide, an offshoot of his highly successful book. Egan began his periodical in 1824 as a Sunday weekly, and in 1826 asked Cruikshank to design some wood engravings to head the paper's regular features, which increased its circulation. Some Cruikshank designs were subsequently used, without the artist's consent, by Bell's paper, and in 1827 Egan, unable to achieve the success of his competitor, sold out to Bell, who merged the two journals into one. Bell's was a conspicuous success: it sold as many as sixteen thousand copies weekly to the poorest classes. This advertisement, in addition to its lively cover of over twenty woodcuts, features a number of poetical effusions to Royalty, the Nobility, Members of Parliament, the Clergy, the Army and Navy, the Commercial, Agricultural and Theatrical Worlds, and, of course, Sportsmen of Every Degree The advertisement is not a part of Bell's periodical, but was a separately issued publication to promote circulation. Patten, George Cruikshank, I, pp. 300-301 et seq