Dulac, one of the "Golden Age" of gift book illustrators, was born in Toulouse, France. After winning prizes for his work in Paris he left for London at the age of 22. His arrival coincided with the invention of the colour separation printing process. In 1907 he was commissioned by the Leicester Gallery to illustrate the Arabian Nights for Hodder & Stoughton.

The Gallery retained reproduction rights and sold the paintings after publication. Princess Badoura was produced the same way as was Sinbad the Sailor in 1914. Dulac worked hard contributing to Gift Books for the war effort and in 1915 produced his own Picture Book for the French Red Cross, the only one done by a single artist. Throughout his career he also designed costumes and stage sets, as well as stamps, playing cards, bookplates, chocolate boxes and from 1924 to 1949 provided weekly paintings for the American Hearst newspaper chain.