Edmund Dulac
Edmund Dulac was born in Toulouse, France, on 22nd October 1882. His early life was influenced by his father, who was a commercial traveller in textiles and dealt with paintings on the side, and his uncle who sold Japanese prints. At a very early age Dulac began painting himself, with the oriental theme of his uncle's Japanese prints creeping in, forming his own much loved style.
Left: The illustrator Edmund Dulac
As a young man Dulac decided that he would venture to London and concentrate on magazine illustration; he settled in London permanently in the autumn of 1904.
Edmund Dulac was only 22 when he received his first important book commission. The publishers J.M.Dent approached him to illustrate a new edition of the complete novels of theBronte sisters. Dulac provided 60 watercolour illustrations for the 10 volumes which were issued between April and July 1905.
The first children's book to be illustrated by Dulac was Mrs. Stawell's "Fairies I Have Met", originally published in 1907 and later reissued as "My Days WithThe Fairies". During the same year Dulac was commissioned by Hodder & Stoughton to illustrate a sumptuous volume of "Stories from the Arabian Nights" for the Christmas market. As with Arthur Rackham's "Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens", the book contained 50 mounted colour plates grouped together at the end of the book. This was to be the first of a series of gift books which were issued in both 'trade' and Deluxe limited editions and always remained his most popular work.
Other gift books illustrated by Dulac and published by Hodder & Stoughton include:
- The Tempest by Shakespeare (1908, forty plates)
- The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam (1909, twenty plates)
- The Sleeping Beauty and Other Fairy Tales (1910, 30 plates)
- Stories from Hans Andersen (1911, 28 plates)
- Princess Badoura (1913, 10 plates)
- Sindbad the Sailor (1914, 23 colour plates)
- Edmund Dulac's Fairy Book (1916, 15 plates)
- Tanglewood Tales (1918, 14 colour plates)
In February 1912 Dulac became a fully naturalized British citizen, only to be expected as by this time he was a prominent figure in the London social scene and was also the country's favourite 'Anglo-Frenchman'.
Dulac's generosity was to be observed following the outbreak of the first world war. Hodder & Stoughton approached Dulac and asked him to prepare a compilation of his own favourite artwork for charity. Published in 1915 at the low price of 3/-, Edmund Dulac's "Picture Book For The French Red Cross" made an outright profit of £1,000 for the organisation - about £50,000 today! During the same year every drawing and painting produced by Dulac was undertaken without payment, the money going towards various charities. These charitable works included "The Dreamer of Dreams" and the "Stealers of Light" by Queen Marie of Roumania. The frontispiece of the Snow Maiden in "The Dreamer of Dreams"(below, right) is one of Dulac's most memorable paintings.
During the 1920's Dulac concentrated chiefly on magazine work including cartoons of literary and political figures, bible scenes and monthly cryptic crosswords!
Dulac's last commission for a British publication was for "The Daughters of the Stars", a whimsical fairy story by American author Mary Crary, published by Hatchards in 1939. Dulac contributed just two colour plates for this publication. During the 1950's Dulac signed a contract with the Limited Editions Club of New York for a series of classics to be illustrated by him. Only three were completed:
- The Golden Cockerel (1950)
- The Marriage of Cupid & Psyche (1951)
- The Masque of Comus (1954)
These three volumes were all limited to 1,500 copies each and the first two were signed by Dulac.
After completing only six (of 10) colour plates for "The Masque of Comus" Edmund Dulac died suddenly of a massive heart attack in May 1953. Today he is regarded as one of the foremost artists from the 'Golden Age' of book illustration.
Contributed by Maria Goddard
Main Sources: "Book and Magazine Collector No. 289" -article entitled "Edmund Dulac Supreme Illustrator" by Richard Dalby and "The Golden Age of Children's Book Illustration" also by Richard Dalby.
(Published on 11th Oct 2013 )
