Alfred Thompson (librettist)

Thompson was born in London. He was educated at Rugby and Brighton. He matriculated at Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1850 and graduated B.A. in 1855. He served as a cavalry officer in the 6th Dragoons from 1855 until he sold his commission in 1857; he started as cornet and rose to captain. In 1854 he sold his first drawing to Diogenes and in 1856–1858 sold numerous drawings to Punch.{{cite book|chapter=Alfred Thompson|author=Spielmann, M. H.|title=A history of "Punch"|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o5o4AAAAIAAJ/page/n519 500]|year=1895|publisher=Cassell & Co|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_o5o4AAAAIAAJ}} He studied art in Munich with private lessons from Karl von Piloty and in Paris under Thomas Couture. In 1867 at the behest of Arthur à Beckett, Thompson joined the literary staff of The Tomahawk.{{cite book|author=À Beckett, Arthur William|title=The à Becketts of "Punch"|year=1903|pages=158–159|url=https://archive.org/stream/abeckettspunchme00abec#page/158/mode/2up/search/thompson}}

From February to December 1868, Thompson and Leopold David Lewis edited a monthly review The Mask,[http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/008885231 The Mask ("a humorous and fantastic review") – Hathitrust Digital Library] which failed. In the 1860s Thompson became successful as a librettist, set designer and costume designer for the British musical theatre in London. For the English stage he designed over five thousand costumes.{{cite journal|journal=The Biograph and Review|title=Alfred Thompson|date=January 1882|series=New Series.—Part I.|volume= I|pages=414–417|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BnQEAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA414}} During the 1870s in Manchester he was managing director of the Theatre Royal and the Prince's Theatre. In May 1883 as a journalist he represented the Daily News at the coronation of Tsar Alexader III. In the latter part of his career Thompson moved to Manhattan and became successful as a librettist for New York City musicals similar to those he had worked on in London and Manchester.

• {{cite book|title=The Lion's Mouth|location=London|year=1867}}
• {{cite book|title=Columbus, or The Original Pitch in a Merry Key|location=Gaiety Theatre, London|year=1869}}{{cite book|title=A Dictionary of the Drama|publisher=J. B. Lippincott Company|author=Adams, William Davenport|year=1904|chapter=Columbus, Christopher|page=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TzwOAAAAYAAJ/page/n322 314]|url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_TzwOAAAAYAAJ}}
• {{cite book|title=Aladdin II, or an Old Lamp in a New Light|location=London|year=1870}}
• {{cite book|title=Cinderella, the Younger|location=London|year=1871}}{{cite book|chapter=Les Deux Arlequins/The Two Harlequins/Cinderella, the Younger|title=Gaiety Chronicles|author=Hollingshead, John|authorlink=John Hollingshead|pages=[https://archive.org/details/gaietychronicle00hollgoog/page/n222 198]–199|year=1898|location=London|publisher=Archibald Constable & Co|url=https://archive.org/details/gaietychronicle00hollgoog}}
• {{cite book|title=Belladonna, or The Little Beauty and the Great Beast|location=Prince's Theatre, Manchester|year=1878}}{{cite book|chapter=Belladonna, or The Little Beauty and the Great Beast|title=A Dictionary of the Drama|year=1904|page=139|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzwOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA139|last1=Adams|first1=William Davenport}}
• {{cite book|title=Pepita, or the Girl with the Glass Eyes|location=Union Square Theatre, NYC|year=1886}}{{cite journal|title=UNION-SQUARE THEATRE|date=17 March 1886|journal=NY Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1886/03/17/archives/unionsquare-theatre.html}}
• {{cite book|title=The Arabian Nights, or Aladdin's Wonderful Lamp|location=NYC|year=1887}}
• {{cite book|title=The Crystal Slipper, or Prince Prettywitz and Little Cinderella|location=Star Theatre, NYC|year=1888}}{{cite book|chapter=Crystal Slipper (The); or, Prince Prettywitz and Little Cinderella|title=A Dictionary of the Drama|year=1904|page=359|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TzwOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA359|last1=Adams|first1=William Davenport}}{{cite book|title=Harry B. Smith: A Biography|publisher=Taylor & Francis|author=Franceschina, James|year=2003|page=[https://archive.org/details/harrybsmithdeano0000fran/page/38 38]|url=https://archive.org/details/harrybsmithdeano0000fran|url-access=registration}}

File:John Villiers Stuart Townshend, Vanity Fair, 1870-02-26.jpg|John Villiers Stuart Townshend by "Ἀτη" in the 26 February 1870 issue

File:Robert Peel Vanity Fair 19 March 1870.jpg|Sir Robert Peel by "Ἀτη" in the 19 March 1870 issue

File:Sir-Frederick-Pollock.jpg|Sir Frederick Pollock by "Ἀτη" in the 2 April 1870 issue

File:Nawab of Bengal.jpg|Mansur Ali Khan of Bengal by "Ἀτη" in the 16 April 1870 issue

File:Francis, Duke of Teck, Vanity Fair, 1870-05-14.jpg|Francis, Duke of Teck by "Ἀτη" in the 14 May 1870 issue

• Pepita; or, the Girl with the Glass Eyes
• Vanity Fair caricatures

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{{commons category|Alfred Thompson}}

• [http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/person/mp07635 National Portrait Gallery – Person – Alfred Thompson (Atn)]
• [http://catalog.hathitrust.org/Record/009018382 The log of the Water Lily, illustrated by Alfred Thompson — Hathi Trust Digital Library]
• [http://www.quns.cam.ac.uk/page-248 Fellows 1800 – 99 – Queens College Cambridge] Thomas Perronet Thompson was Alfred's uncle.

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Category:1831 births

Category:1895 deaths

Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge

Category:American musical theatre librettists

Category:British caricaturists

Category:British costume designers

Category:British editorial cartoonists

Category:English musical theatre librettists

Category:People educated at Brighton College

Category:People educated at Rugby School

Category:Punch (magazine) cartoonists

Category:Vanity Fair (British magazine) artists

Category:Writers from London

Category:19th-century American dramatists and playwrights