Sir (Thomas Henry) Hall Caine

Sitter in 27 portraits
Leaving school at the age of fourteen, Caine became an architect's apprentice in Liverpool. An aspiring writer, he began to write regularly for local publications and corresponding with several eminent literary men, most notably Dante Gabriel Rossetti, for whom he came to act as secretary. He would go on to produce fifteen best-selling romantic novels, that also promoted his socialist beliefs. Inspired by his Manx heritage, The Manxman (1894) was an immediate hit and is probably his best-known book. This was followed by his novel The Christian (1897), which was the first novel in Britain to sell one million copies. In his time an exceedingly popular and successful writer, Caine's work is now largely forgotten.