Ellen B. Thompson had her first illustrations published in the Philadelphia Press on November 27, 1895. Her three ink drawings of the Drexel Library accompanied an article about the building. She must have been excited to have her work published, because these illustrations were clipped from the newspaper and glued into a scrapbook she kept with the note, “First published work EBT. Done at Drexel in second year under Miss [Lydia] Austin.”
Janice Meredith, A Story of the American Revolution
Janice Meredith was written by Paul Leicester Ford, and it first appeared as a serialized story in Collier’s Weekly in 1899. It was published as a two-volume set later in 1899 by Dodd, Mead, and Company. Ford also wrote a play adaptation, which opened in 1900 and featured stage actress Mary Mannering in her first starring role. Finally, in 1924, a silent film of the same name was released.
As a serialized story in Collier’s, it included many illustrations, and most of those were created by four of Howard Pyle’s students: Emlen McConnell, James Bell Graff, Anna Whelan Betts, and Ellen Bernard Thompson. Starting with the January 28, 1899 issue, three or four illustrations, ranging from small cameos to full-page images, accompanied each installation of the story every week until the conclusion in the June 24, 1899 issue. Most of the time, illustrations by Ellen and Anna would be published one week, followed by works by Emlen and James the next week. Not all these illustrations appeared in the two-volume book.