 In 1880 Compton became a member of the Royal Academy, London.Besides his work as a painter he also became well known as a book illustrator for the German and Austrian Alpine Association (DAV) with titles such as "In the high mountains" by Emil Zsigmondy (1889), "About Fels and Firn" by H. Hess (1901) and "Mountaineering in Pictures" by Alfred Steinitzer (1913).In England he was also in demand as an illustrator providing pictures for a range of titles (see below).