'As an illustrator of books he was remarkable,' says his anonymous biographer,[8] 'for facility of execution and aptness of character.' His illustrations of _Hiawatha_ (Kent and Co.), _Armadale_ (Wilkie Collins), and _The Last Chronicle of Barset_ (Anthony Trollope), are perhaps the most important; but _London Society_, Mrs. Gatty's _Parables_, _Cassell's Magazine_, _The Quiver_, _Illustrated Readings_, and many other volumes of the period, contain numerous examples of his work in this department. In the person of his brother, Mr. W. Luson Thomas, the managing director of the _Graphic_ and the _Daily Graphic_, and his nephew, Carmichael Thomas, Art Director of the _Graphic_, the family name is still associated with the most notable movement in illustration during the period which immediately followed that to which this book is devoted. * * * * * [Illustration: FORD MADOX BROWN DALZIELS' 'BIBLE GALLERY' 1880 JOSEPH'S COAT] SIR JOHN EVERETT MILLAIS, Bart., P.R.A. (born June 8, 1829, died August 13, 1896).--As these proofs were being sent to press, the greatest illustrator of all (having regard to his place as the pioneer of the school which immediately succeeded the pre-Raphaelites, the number of his designs, and their superlative excellence), has joined the majority of his fellow-workers in the sixties. It would be impossible in a few lines to summarise his contributions to the 'black-and-white' of English art; that task will doubtless be undertaken adequately. But, if all the rest of the work of the period were lost, his contributions alone might justly support every word that has been or will be said in praise of 'the golden decade.' From the 1857 _Tennyson_ to his latest illustration he added masterpiece to masterpiece, and, were his triumphant career as a painter completely ignored, might yet be ranked as a great master on the strength of these alone. * * * * *