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Edmond Dulac

Arthur Rackham might be the epitome of the Golden Age illustrators for many folks, but I feel that Edmond Dulac had the most success producing work for more conventional literature. Rackham, Ford and so on were illustrators of fairy stories; one of Dulac’s first major commissions was to illustrate Jane Eyre and the other Bronte novels. He did illustrated fairy tales, including one full volume of Hans Christian Anderson, but also tackled Shakespeare, The Arabian Nights and The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam. That last, a portfolio of 20 images, is probably his best-known work (though the dude did design stamps and currency too, that doesn’t seem like the same sort of recognizability, but does point to the scope of his mainstream success).

This is the David Larkin-edited Dulac (1975) and it focuses mostly on his more fantastic work. He shares something of Rackham’s murky textures and rich colors, but where Rackham taps some nostalgic notion of Britain’s rural life, Dulac is decidedly Orientalist in his designs and ornamentation. Most Golden Age illustrators seem keen to fill space, but Dulac is happy to let it stay empty, to show of its spotty tones. The alchemist on the cover is a good example of that. His monsters, what few there are, are reasonable-looking for the most part. No octopus tentacle beards here.

Despite that, Dulac has some clear lines of descent. Charles Vess is an obvious exponent as is, I think, Alan Lee. Ellie Jo Livingston counts him as a big influence as well. She’s probably painting more than enough monsters to make up for Dulac’s relative lack of them!