from 'The Comedy of the Tempest', William Shakespeare. Published by Hodder & Stoughton 1908
Illustrated by Edmund Dulac*. Original coloured 'tipped in' print. 5 by 7 inches. Good, clean condition.
*Edmund Dulac (1882-1953). Born in Toulouse, Dulac at first studied law before concentrating on an artistic career after winning prizes at the Ecole des Beaux Arts, Paris. In 1904, he decided to move to London and this timing proved significant as it coincided with the arrival of the illustrated ‘gift book’ as a popular item, itself made possible by advances in printing technology which allowed colour images to be mass produced. Dulac received illustration commissions from publishers Hodder & Stoughton starting with ‘The Arabian Nights’ in 1907 and followed by ‘The Comedy of the Tempest’ in 1908.
He was acknowledged as one of the leading book illustrators of the ‘golden age’ and commissions continued until the First World War put an end to the ‘gift book’ genre. Dulac’s work is noted for the use of colour to depict form as opposed to line as with other illustrators. After the war, he continued with book illustrations but also undertook a variety of work embracing portrait and design commissions including stamps, bank notes and theatre sets, until his death from a heart attack in London in 1953.