Edward Gordon Craig was born in Hertfordshire, England on 16 January 1872, the son of architect Edward William Godwin (1833-1886) and actress Ellen Alice Terry (1847-1928). He was named Edward Godwin at birth, baptised as Edward Henry Gordon sixteen years later, and adopted the surname Craig when he was 21. Craig was introducted to the art of wood engraving in the last years of the 19th century by artists James Pryde and William Nicholson. Engraving became an enduring passion for Craig. He worked as an actor and manager in the company of Sir Henry Iriving in the 1890s, but in the new century turned to stage design and direction for numerous productions in theaters throughout England, and in Berlin, Florence, and Moscow. Introducing innovations in the use of atmospheric, abstract, and highly dramatic lighting, colors, and stage effects, Craig's stage direction was revolutionary. After the turn of the century, Craig mainly resided in Europe. He created his theater magazine in 1908 (the publication ran until 1929), founded the School for the Art of the Theatre in 1913 in Florence, and published in 1911, all of which disseminated his radically new ideas. While Craig had continued to create wood engravings throughout his stage designing career, frequently using wood blocks as figures for stage models, he began concentrating on this art in the 1930s. Craig also began writing more prolifically during this time, publishing a biography of Sir Henry Irving and his mother, Ellen Terry. He completed a memoir of his early years, , in 1957. Craig remained a significant figure in the worlds of theater and the arts up until his death in Vence, France on 29 July 1966, and his ideas in stage and print design have proved lastingly influential.