11th Feb, 2026 11:00
The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector
62
EDMUND DULAC (FRENCH-BRITISH 1882-1953)
STUDY OF MICE
pencil on paper; 19 x 26cm; 7 1/2 x 10 1/4in (36 x 42cm; 14 1/4 x 16 1/2in framed)
Exhibited: London, Hartnoll and Eyre, Edmund Dulac, 1970, no. 47
Dulac studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse and the Académie Julian, Paris before moving to London in his early twenties. Commissioned by J.M. Dent soon after his arrival to illustrate Jane Eyre and nine further volumes by the Brontë sisters, Dulac became a prominent illustrator during a golden age of book Illustration in Britain. He subsequently worked for Hodder and Stoughton and the Leicester Galleries on a wide range of commissions. He joined the London Sketch Club, and became a regular contributor to the Pall Mall Magazine. Although best known for his illustrations of classic stories, Dulac also produced newspaper caricatures, portraits, theatre costume and set designs, bookplates, chocolate box graphics, medals, and postage stamps.
See also lot 27.
Sold for £1,400
STUDY OF MICE
pencil on paper; 19 x 26cm; 7 1/2 x 10 1/4in (36 x 42cm; 14 1/4 x 16 1/2in framed)
Exhibited: London, Hartnoll and Eyre, Edmund Dulac, 1970, no. 47
Dulac studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Toulouse and the Académie Julian, Paris before moving to London in his early twenties. Commissioned by J.M. Dent soon after his arrival to illustrate Jane Eyre and nine further volumes by the Brontë sisters, Dulac became a prominent illustrator during a golden age of book Illustration in Britain. He subsequently worked for Hodder and Stoughton and the Leicester Galleries on a wide range of commissions. He joined the London Sketch Club, and became a regular contributor to the Pall Mall Magazine. Although best known for his illustrations of classic stories, Dulac also produced newspaper caricatures, portraits, theatre costume and set designs, bookplates, chocolate box graphics, medals, and postage stamps.
See also lot 27.
Auction: The Estate of John Russell Taylor: Author, Critic, Collector, 11th Feb, 2026
Auction Location: London, UK
John Russell Taylor was a compulsive collector. When he died at the age of ninety, his two bedroom flat on the corner of Brook Green was floor to ceiling with books and pictures that he had collected over the last seventy years. A precocious talent he was awarded a scholarship to read English at Cambridge aged 16 and graduated with a starred First Class degree. Film, theatre and art critic for The Times for more than four decades, he wrote thousands of articles and reviews for the newspaper. He also wrote over sixty books – critical studies, biographies, and monographs. He was appointed professor of Film at the University of Southern California during the 1970s, when he was asked by Alfred Hitchcock to write his biography. Hitch remains the standard text on the film director. John's interests ranged across all aspects of the arts from Art Nouveau book illustration to Vorticism, fan paintings, poetry and stage design. Struck by the visual rather than the value of a work of art, the sale of his picture collection gives a flavour of the full gamut of his encyclopaedic mind, a man remembered for his phenomenal range of reference, his extraordinary talent for writing and his warm and generous character.
For a copy of the printed catalogue, email pictures@olympiaauctions.com
PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
View Press Release for more information
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PUBLIC EXHIBITION
Friday 6th February: 10am - 5pm
Sunday 8th February: 12pm - 4pm
Monday 9th February: 10am - 8pm (Drinks: 5pm - 8pm)
Tuesday 10th February: 10am - 5pm
