Mason Jackson

Born in Ovingham, Northumberland, on May 25, 1819, he trained as a wood engraver under his older brother, John Jackson. He built his reputation in the mid-19th century through engravings for The Art Union and for illustrated editions of well-known books.

He became closely associated with the Illustrated London News, first as an engraver and later as its art editor. That work placed him at the center of a period when images were becoming an essential part of news, and it helped inspire his best-known book, The Pictorial Press: Its Origin and Progress, an early account of illustrated journalism in Britain.

Mason Jackson died on December 28, 1903. Today he is remembered both for his craftsmanship as a wood engraver and for documenting how pictures changed the way people read the news.