Gertrude Thomson

Cover of Nursery Alice , 1890

Emily Gertrude Thomson (* 1850 in Glasgow ; † 1929 ) was a British painter and illustrator .

Life

She was the daughter of Alexander Thomson (1815-1895), professor of theology at the University of Glasgow and later for the subjects of Greek and Hebrew at the Lancashire Independent College. Her mother, Emma J. East (1819–1888), was from Birmingham . Emily Gertrude had six siblings.

She graduated from Manchester College of Art and became a member of the Royal Miniature Society . In 1878 she was commissioned by Lewis Carroll to illustrate some of his books, including Three Sunsets and Other Poems . She also designed the cover for The Nursery “Alice” , an abridged version of Carroll's Alice in Wonderland published in 1890 - 25 years after the original edition was published - which the author himself adapted and colored twenty for children up to five years of age and included enlarged drawings of John Tenniel's illustrations from the original book.

While working together, she made friends with Carroll and wrote a brief biography about him.

Literature and source

Morton N. Cohen and Edward Wakeling, Lewis Carroll and his Illustrators , Macmillan, London, 2003, pages 229-231, ISBN 978-0-801-44148-6

Web links

Commons : Gertrude Thomson - collection of images, videos and audio files

personal data
SURNAME	Thomson, Gertrude
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Thomson, Emily Gertrude (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	British painter and illustrator
DATE OF BIRTH	1850
PLACE OF BIRTH	Glasgow , Scotland
DATE OF DEATH	1929