Dean Cornwell was born on March 5, 1892, in Louisville, Kentucky. He began his career as a cartoonist for the Louisville Herald, shortly thereafter enrolling at the School of the Art Institue of Chicago, and at the same time working in the art department of the Chicago Tribune. In 1915 he went to study at the Art Students League of New York under Harvey Dunn, and during the First World War produced posters promoting the war effort.  
 
Cornwell’s illustrations appeared in popular magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Cosmopolitan, and Harper's Bazaar alongside the work of authors including Pearl S Buck, Ernest Hemingway, and W Somerset Maugham. He also worked as a commercial artist for several prominent brands, among...