Edmund Dulac

Edmund Dulac (born Edmond Dulac, October 22, 1882 – May 25, 1953) was a French illustrator prominent during the so called "Golden Age of Illustration" (the first quarter or so of the twentieth century).

Early life and career

Born in Toulouse, France, he began his career by studying law at the University of Toulouse, but also followed classes in the Ecole des Beaux Arts, switching full time to art after he became bored with law, and also having won prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts. He spent a very brief period at the Académie Julian in Paris in 1904 before moving to London.

In London, the 22-year old Frenchman was picked up by J.M. Dent and given a commission to illustrate the collected works of the Brontë sisters. He then began an association with the Leicester Gallery and Hodder & Stoughton; the gallery would commission paintings from Dulac and then sell the rights to Hodder & Stoughton, who would publish the books (one book a year over many years) while the gallery would sell the paintings. Books produced under this arrangement by Dulac include Stories from The Arabian Nights, an edition of Shakespeare's The Tempest, and many others. In 1995, Ann Hughey compiled a bibliography - Edmund Dulac - His Book Illustrations: A Bibliography, which lists over 800 editions of works that include illustrations by Dulac.

Later life

After the war, the deluxe edition illustrated book became a rarity and Dulac's career in this field was over. His last such books were Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book (1916), the Tanglewood Tales (1918) (including 14 colour images) and the exquisite The Kingdom of the Pearl (1920). His career continued in other areas however, including newspaper caricatures (especially at The Outlook), portraiture, theatre costume and set design, bookplates, chocolate boxes, medals, and various graphics (especially for The Mercury Theatre). He designed postage stamps for Great Britain. He designed stamps (Marianne de Londres series) and banknotes for Free France during World War II. He also produced illustrations for The American Weekly, a Sunday supplement belonging to the Hearst newspaper chain in America and Britain's Country Life. Country Life Limited (London) published Gods and Mortals in Love (1935) (including 9 colour images) based on a number of the contributions made by Dulac to Country Life previously. The Daughter of the Stars (1939) was a further publication to benefit from Dulac's artwork - due to constraints related to the outbreak of World War II, that title included just 2 colour images. He continued to produce books for the rest of his life, more so than any of his contemporaries, although these were less frequent and less lavish than during the Golden Age.