Edward Frank Willis James (16 August 1907 – 2 December 1984) was a British poet known for his patronage of the surrealist art movement.

[5] However, there was also popular belief that Forbes was one of the Prince of Wales's mistresses and there was a much-quoted ballad by Hilaire Belloc intimating this at the time.

When his father died in 1912 he inherited the 8,000-acre (3,200 ha) West Dean House estate in Sussex, held in trust until he came of age.

He had several productions created expressly for her, the most notable of which was Les Ballets 1933, which included Kurt Weill, Lotte Lenya and George Balanchine.

He and Boris Kochno commissioned that year Brecht and Weill's last collaboration, The Seven Deadly Sins, which Balanchine produced, directed and choreographed.

[12] After the divorce, James joined a social set in England which included the Mitford sisters and the composer Lord Berners.

James is best known as a passionate supporter of Surrealism, a movement that evolved from Dada and the political uncertainty and upheaval of World War I and the following years.

With a mix of Dada irreverence for the traditional political, religious, and bourgeois values of western civilization that they believed had led the world (and themselves as veterans of the war) to the First World War, the surrealist explored the possibilities that had been opened up by Sigmund Freud regarding the subconscious mind, and the idea of pure thought, unfiltered and uncensored by political, religious, moral, or rational principles.

Yesterday evening we went to visit Henry Moore, a charming sculptor, sort of Arp-Picasso..."[19] In June that year, Magritte painted some portraits of James including Not to be Reproduced and The Pleasure Principle.

[20] In Not to be Reproduced, the book sitting on the mantle is the French edition of Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket.

In 1940, James stayed in Taos, New Mexico, United States, as a guest of Mabel Dodge Luhan, where he was known for his amusing, clever eccentricity and effeminate manner.

[25] Las Pozas ("the Pools"), near the village of Xilitla, San Luis Potosí, more than 2,000 feet (610 m) above sea level, in a subtropical rainforest in the Sierra Gorda mountains of Mexico, is a garden created by James.

The many trails throughout the garden site are composed of steps, ramps, bridges, and narrow winding walkways that traverse the valley walls.

The Edward James Foundation comprises West Dean College, a centre for the preservation of traditional arts and crafts, through short courses and full-time Diplomas and MAs.

One of only two professional tapestry weaving studios in the UK and an art gallery are housed on a 6,400-acre (26 km2) estate which is open to the public through the West Dean Gardens.