James Laver

British novelist, playwright, poet and art critic James Laver was born in Liverpool, England, in 1900. At age 12 he won a scholarship to the Liverpool Institute. In 1917, at age 18, he enlisted in the Royal Army as a lieutenant. He was posted to the French front, but didn't see any combat, as the Armistice was signed two days after he got there. He stayed in France for another year, then returned to England and his studies at Oxford, graduating in 1921. The next year he was hired by the Victoria and Albert Museum and placed as second in charge of its art print room. It was there that he began writing art criticism and poems, and even began producing plays for amateur dramatic societies. In 1928 he married actress Veronica Turleigh. In 1937 he was promoted to head of the museum's print room, and began the process of examining and cataloging all of the museum's prints. He also taught English at the Working Men's College, and was later appointed art director. He has turned out a prolific amount of writing, on everything from 19th-century French fashions to biographies to books of poetry.