BEARDSLEY, Aubrey.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A Book of Fifty Drawings; [together with] -- A Second Book of Fifty Drawings. Deluxe editions, respectively numbers 12 and 3 of 50 copies printed on Japanese vellum and specially bound, the first book signed by the publisher on his autograph limitation. These copies are bright examples of Beardsley's compendium which also include some of the artist's unpublished work.The books comprise various iconic book illustrations by Beardsley including those from Le Morte Darthur (1893), Salome (1894), A Comedy of Sighs (1894), The Rape of the Lock (1896), the Yellow Book (1894-7), and The Savoy (1896)."Often shockingly overt in their sexuality and eroticism, the illustrations rejected the aesthetic of the Pre-Raphaelites who were Beardsley's original mentors and offered a revisionist and parodic treatment of their medievalism. Ultimately, Beardsley went far beyond his original intention to 'flabbergast the bourgeois' of his day; he also challenged generations of readers and artists to view Arthurian society through his own modernist lens" (Lupack, pp. 75-91).The books were also issued in a larger limited run consisting of 500 and 1000 copies respectively, printed on art paper and bound in red cloth.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.