Du Maurier, George Louis Palmella Busson

du mo're-a, George Louis Palmella Busson (1834-1896), an English artist and writer of novels. Du Maurier was of a French family which had been driven to England by the Revolution. He was educated at Paris. He is well known by his illustrations in Punch, Once a Week, Cornhill Magazine, and other periodicals. In 1891 he published Peter Ibbetson, a strange, dreamy story, involving an account of a supernatural power possessed by Ibbetson and his old sweetheart whereby they are able to meet in spirit. Trilby appeared in 1894 and became popular both as a story and in a dramatized form. Trilby is an artist's model who is made to sing by hypnotic power. Du Maurier's novels will be shortlived. His drawings for Punch, however, have permanent importance, since they are illustrative of the society of his time.