George Thomson

A stippled steel plate engraving from an earlier portrait of Robert Burns' publisher painted by Sir Henry Raeburn RA.   Robert Burns collected and refined traditional songs, sending his versions to his friend and editor, George Thomson. George Thomson lived in Edinburgh and served as Clerk to the Board of Trustees for Encouragement of Art and Manufacture in Scotland. His main interest in life was music.   Thomson published "A Select Collection of Original Scottish Airs for the Voice" in 1817. Burns made a major contribution to this work spending the last years of his life collecting and writing songs for Thomson. He provided him with over 100 songs including, "My Luve Is Like A Red, Red Rose" and "A Man's A Man For A' That".   This portrait of George Thomson was published in "The Land of Burns - A series of Landscapes and Portraits, Illustrative of the Life and Writings of the Scottish Poet". This was published in 1846 by  Blackie and Son of Glasgow. At this time the development of steel plate engraving made it possible for images to be reproduced in much greater numbers than previous printing technology had allowed. Books such as this one, illustrated by engravings of works by eminent artists became popular, although they were still expensive and beyond the pocket of most people.