Margaret Calkin James (June 1895 – 1985), was a calligrapher, graphic designer, textile printer, watercolour painter and printmaker.

[1] Margaret Calkin James was born in Emmanuel, West Hampstead, the third of seven children of Harry Bernard Calkin (1861–1926), a senior underwriter at Lloyd's of London and Margaret Agnes Palfrey (1870–1936), daughter of Penry Powell Palfrey (1830–1902), a well-known artist in stone and stained glass.

[2] She was a student at the Central School of Arts and Crafts between 1913 and 1915, specialising in calligraphy and winning the Queen's Scholarship in her final year.

In June 1922 she married Charles Holloway James, a distinguished architect who trained under Sir Edwin Lutyens.

She designed posters for London Transport, book jackets for Jonathan Cape, pattern papers for the Curwen Press, programmes and booklets for the BBC and a greetings telegram for the GPO.