ABSTRACT
Samuel Carter Hall edited the Art Journal for forty-two years and was clear that despite the title, art encompassed much more than painting or sculpture. The very thorny issue of design copyright protection created many tensions during the century, but none more so than period between 1839 and 1842 with one side requiring more copyright protection for longer periods of time, and the opposing side wanting it removed completely. James Thomson, a calico printer and friend of Sir Robert Peel, wrote in uncompromisingly political terms in his published letter to Peel, on the issue of the value of copyright in original designs. It is amusing now, and so indeed it was thirty-two years ago, to note the many prophecies of financial failure. This chapter has necessarily contained much – perhaps too much – matter that has mainly reference to the author himself. The portions relating to Exhibition were subsequently published in a separate volume, at the price of one guinea.
