American illustrator and muralist. Abbey’s impressionistic pen drawings made him one of the greatest illustrators of the late 19th century. Educated at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts, in 1878 he was sent by Harper’s Weekly to London, where he remained, earning a reputation for his classic illustrations of Herrick, Goldsmith, and Shakespeare. His fine lines and graceful depictions of 17th- and 18th-century England had an important influence on the illustrative techniques of his day. Abbey’s best-known mural is The quest for the Holy Grail (completed 1902) in the Boston Public Library.