Edmund Dulac was born in Toulouse, adopting English citizenship in 1912. He studied science and philosophy, before attending painting classes at Toulouse School of Art. He exhibited portraits at the Paris Salons of 1904 and1905, before taking up illustrations. These, together with drawings, were regularly shown at the Leicester Galleries in London. There were few branches of design and illustration that Dulac did not turn his hand to – publishing his own books, such as Edmund Dulac’s fairy-Book in 1916, to playing cards. In 1937 he designed stamps for the Coronation of King George VI and for Free French movement in 1940.