Edward Burne-Jones (1833-1898) was born in Birmingham, England. His mother died a few days after he was born and he was raised by his father and the housekeeper, Miss Sampson. He attended King Edward's Free School, and then entered Oxford in January 1854 with the intention of becoming a priest. He was joined in this ambition by a new-found friend, William Morris.

After a visit to France, Burne-Jones and Morris discovered and systematically explored medievalism and chivalry. Together they decided to dedicate their lives to the production of beauty. Reading Malory's "Morte D'Arthur" crystallized this commitment to the romantic movement for Burne-Jones. He became one of the founding members of the well known Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood and, with Gabriel Rossetti and John Ruskin as mentors, he began to paint numerous canvasses with images from the legends of King Arthur and his court.

On June 9, 1860, he married Georgianna Macdonald. Their son Philip was born in October 1861, and was followed five years later by Margaret in June 1866. In the memoirs written by Georgianna Burne-Jones, Edward Burne-Jones emerges as a doting father and later as an equally enchanted grandfather. His delightful sense of humor, rarely detected in his more serious paintings, is readily apparent in his pen and ink sketches for his children and grandchildren, and in his letters to close friends.

Edward Burne-Jones spent the last years of his life at The Grange, his home in West Kensington, painting and writing letters. Many collections exist of his delightful letters to young children, filled with pen and ink drawings of amusing subjects. These drawings of fat ladies, pigs, ducklings, and various monsters present an intriguing contrast to his vivid and richly colored paintings of beautiful women and Arthurian legends.