In the late 1800s, people turned to newspapers for news, humor, recipes — and a momentary escape from their grinding six-day workweeks. For one nickel, people were given a window to the world.

In New York City, Joseph Pulitzer offered New Yorkers sanity, weird science trivia and political cartoons in the midst of a chaotic, thriving city. In 1883, the Hungarian-born journalist bought and crafted the infamous World newspaper.

Global news before the online era

He managed to turn one of the most unprofitable New York newspapers into one of the most-read — by redirecting its attention toward human-interest stories and scandals.

Nearly 100 years later, the remaining copies of these heavy wood-pulp newspapers were being discarded by libraries across the United States and being replaced by microfilm copies. It could have been an historical and artistic tragedy. Instead, Nicholson Baker and his wife Margaret Brentano had to travel all the way to Great Britain to rescue more than 6,000 bound copies of U.S. newspapers, including the New York Times and the World.

Illustrated news

The result is the collection, “The World on Sunday,” showcasing 13 years of brightly colored, political and humorous graphic art that highlighted the pages of the Sunday World. The World merged with The Evening Telegram in 1931.

The graphic art contained in this book is one of the purest depictions of life in the 20th century. The artists mock, applaud and offer social commentary on some of the century’s greatest, most interesting and most provocative issues.

It was home to writings by John Steinbeck, H.G. Wells and William Faulkner. The content, art and photographs spoke of love, hate, wealth, poverty, struggle — and the promise of a new day.

And then, there was the powerful visual artistry. Mark Twain’s inquisitive scowl glowers at you from the December 10, 1899 cover of The Sunday World, the title reading, “My first lie and how I got out of it.”

Drawing the world

Beneath his portrait, reads his famous quote, “I have taken medals at 13 world fairs and may claim to be not without capacity.” In honor of Mr. Twain, an artist drew 13 women awarding “liar’s medals” to red-shadowed men standing behind them.

On Sundays, World artists offered New Yorkers simple truths — and they gave people both pride and amazement in their beloved New York City.

The June 17, 1906 issue of The Sunday World is titled, “The Busiest Hour on Earth” and details a surprising number of occurrences that happen between 6 p.m. and 7 p.m. The artist details that in that one hour, everyday, 18 people are arrested, 486 emigrants arrive, eight people are married and 1.9 cubic feet of gas are consumed.

Standing the test of time

Similarly, the January 20, 1907 issue of The Sunday World reads, “How Far can New York Climb into the Sky?” In 1907, the New York building superintendent announced that he believed 100 story buildings were possible.

But it is the creativity of these artists, the intensity of the colors, the collages of photographs and drawings that stands the true test of time.