Edward Gordon Craig (1872-1966), son of the architect Edward Godwin and the actress Ellen Terry, began his career as an actor at the Lyceum Theatre, where he appeared with Ellen Terry, and was hailed as one of the country's most promising young actors. He discovered his talent for woodcutting and engraving when introduced to it by the artists James Pryde and William Nicholson. He produced his first wood engraving in 1893, and by 1899 he had engraved nearly 200 blocks, specialising in the new technique of 'white line' wood engravings in which the lines are un-inked and the image emerges from the surrounding ink.

This is one of several engravings Craig made in preparation for his 1912 production of Hamlet at the Moscow Art Theatre. It was used in the 1928 German arts press edition of Hamlet, printed by Count Harry Kessler's Cranach Press in Weimar. With typefont designed by Edward Johnston, the book consisted of Gerhart Hauptman's translation of the second quarto of Shakespeare's play. An English version was printed in 1930. Craig worked on the illustrations for over a period of 17 years, developing his designs from his 1912 production.

Craig continued wood engraving but after 1900 developed a career as a stage designer and director with revolutionary ideas of staging and lighting. He broke with accepted traditions of stage realism and moved towards minimalist staging with innovative lighting, although many of his projects were abandoned due to his inability to compromise.