Douglas Duer was born in October 1887 in Pikesville, Maryland, to Margaret and Andrew Duer.  His father died in 1891 leaving nine children of which Douglas, aged four, was the youngest.  He was educated at Marston's School in Baltimore.  Young Duer's talent for art was noticed by his sister, Henrietta, whi was a portrait painter, and she encouraged her brother's interests.  After four years of working in the family business, Duer studied for one year at the Philadelphia Academy of The Fine Arts under William Merit Chase. Then, in 1909 he came to study with Howard Pyle in Wilmington, where he shared a studio at 1305 Franklin Street with Leslie Thrasher and Eads Collins. During this time he established himself as an illustrator of both magazines and books, including Riders of the Purple Sage by Zane Grey in 1912, and poems by William Rose Benet.

Son of South Dakota homesteaders Tom and Bertha Dunn, Harvey Dunn grew up with a plow rather than a paintbrush in hand. Although the daylight hours after school  were spent working on the farm, Dunn spent evenings sketching  with his mother. In 1901, he enrolled in the South Dakota Agricultural  College as a preparatory student. There, he met Ada B. Caldwell,  an art teacher, who inspired and challenged Dunn to pursue artistic  training; she suggested that Dunn attend the Chicago Art Institute. 

Dunn left for Chicago in 1902. He never lived in South Dakota again, although he visited frequently; however, it would remain  a continual inspiration and recurring subject for his art. Dunn's  two years at the Art Institute were uneventful, yet the experience  and exposure were invaluable. Dunn met Howard  Pyle when he lectured at the Chicago Art Institute in the  spring of 1904. Soon after that meeting, Dunn moved to Wilmington  to study under Pyle. By 1906, Pyle encouraged him to set up his  own studio. Thus, the young artist began his fruitful career  as an illustrator. Jobs came quickly to Dunn, and soon he was  working for Scribner's, Harper's Monthly, Saturday  Evening Post, and many others. His punctuality and tenacity  made him a favorite among magazine editors.

Edward B. Edwards was a master of various media, but he specialized in the grahic arts. When he died at the age of seventy-five, he was most remembered for the calligraphic magazine covers that he had designed in Celtic, Byzantine, Gothic, Renaissance, and Egyptian styles. How much of his command of ancient and modern motifs Edwards owed to Howard Pyle's teaching is uncertain. He attended Pyle's Monday night lectures in 1904.