Annie French was part of the 'Glasgow Girls' group of female artists who studied and worked in Glasgow between 1880 and 1920. She studied at the Glasgow School of Art from 1886-9, and later taught at the school's department of ceramic decoration from 1908 to 1912. She is now best-known for her illustrative work, which was published as monochrome but is particularly striking when coloured, with bold, jewel-like tones illuminating her delicate linear drawings.
The present album, entitled Humour in Verse, was clearly put together by French. With drawings both pasted in and executed directly onto the album pages, it is an extraordinarily personal piece of work, with illustrations accompanied by verse and prose throughout. The drawings appear to have been made over an extended period of time, and the subjects are wide-ranging.