Hugh Thomson was one of the most successful and influential illustrators of his time. A native of Coleraine, he trained in Belfast, at one of the most important commercial art firms. After moving to London in the early 1880s he produced illustrations for a number of publishers, but mainly Macmillan, for whom he illustrated their ‘Highways & Byways’ series of guide books. The Art Fund helped Coleraine purchase two other collections of Thomson's work in 2005 and 2007 and the museum has become a major repository for anyone studying Thomson’s career and late nineteenth century book illustration in Britain.

Provenance

Hugh Thomson; by descent; Jack and Jean Gamble, Emerald Isle Books Ltd.