Edward Julius Detmold and his twin brother, Charles Maurice, were born in 1883. Born in London, they were tutored by an uncle who fostered their artistic talents and a love for natural history. Their animal subjects were always among the most sensitive of their drawings. Prodigious early talents, they exhibited watercolors at the Royal Academy when they were 13 and had a portfolio of etchings issued in 1898.
The brothers worked jointly on their etchings and illustrations. Their first book illustrations were produced jointly for the 1899 Pictures From Birdland. Their next project, at the ripe old age of 20, was a portfolio of 16 watercolors inspired by Kipling's The Jungle Book. They were well on their way to joint and individual success when Maurice suddenly committed suicide in 1908. He was 24.
Edward was stunned by the sudden death of his twin, but managed to continue on with his art. His next book illustrations practically defined him to his publishers and their patrons. These were the 1909 The Fables of Aesop for which he did 23 color plates and numerous pen & ink chapter heads. Then came Maurice Maeterlink's The Life of the Bee and Birds and Beasts and The Book of Baby Beasts in 1911. In 1912, it was the Book of Baby Birds and Hours of Gladness. Animals and insects, insects and animals. It was obviously where his heart was.
Other books had titles like The Book of Baby Pets and The Book of Baby Dogs (1915), Our Little Neighbors and Fabre's Book of Insects (1921) - all reflecting the natural history that had so fascinated him as a youngster. Even when he branched out, as he theoretically did in 1924 with his wonderful The Arabian Nights, he was just as likely to choose animals to illustrate as he was to depict humans.
The final image found from him is in the 1924 Penrose Annual. It's the lovely pair of hares. It was stated that he, too, committed suicide.
(source: http://www.bpib.com/illustra2/detmold.htm)