> p / ^^ ,•!> s^,^< «^=*' ^A" k- London : Elkin Mathews : Mdccccii Boston: Charles E. Peabody & Q). This foot-note to the bibliography of the book-plate has been reprinted from the December, 1902, Reader Magazine, and is copyrighted by The Reader Pub- lishing Company. UBRA«< 8CH00L AUBREY BEARDSLEY AS A DESIGNER OF BOOK-PLATES f : ; - , r . C , ,. „ . . . •« 8 > • lO arttst- has shbwrf greaXef versatility in his work than Aubrey Beardsley^ His designs include illustra- tions for many of the classics, scenes from the operas, purely decorative drawings, portraits, posters, caricatures, drawings keenly satirical, book-covers, title-pages,book-plates» Know- ing that he was a musical prod- igy, an amateur actor, the writer of considerable prose and poetry of much merit, and 3 ?26586 that his knowledge of books was very, great, we may say that the variety shown in his work was a reflection of the versatility of the artiste The really essential view- point for considering Beards- ley ^s drawings is the purely technical one of the artist and the connoisseur* The decora- tive qualities in his work have never been surpassed by any artist whose work has been in black and white* Beardsley is primarily an ^^ artist's artist/' and the qualities of his won- derful and beautiful line and perfect arrangement of his 4 masses are the elements in his work which will make it im- mortal. The aesthetic qual- ities in his drawings are not those which mean mere popu- larity. It is true his drawings had a greater vogue than those of any other artist of his age, but just why they had seems difficult of explanation, unless, as one critic holds, his ignor- ing of perspective and propor- tion, and his freedom, to a certain extent, of convention, caused his works to meet with a succes de scandale. It seems strange that Beards- ley is not better known than 5 he is as a designer of Ex Libris^ In what I suppose may be called an exhaustive and monu- mental work, *^ Artists and En- gravers of British and Ameri- can Book-Plates'' (London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Triibner & Co^, Ltd-, I897),byHenry W. Fincham, about 5,000 book- plates by more than J, 500 artists are catalogued* Mr» Fincham, however, only knew of the plate Beardsley designed for John Lumsden Property While it is true that Beards- ley designed but comparatively few book-plates, this phase of his art is a very interesting one* 6 Not taking rank with his very finest work, his book-plates nevertheless compare very fa- vorably with the best examples of the pictorial style of plate^ The first book-plate Beards- ley designed was the one for Dr» John Lumsden Propert, the famous collector of minia- tures* It was executed in 1 893, as we can see from the date on the drawing placed beneath the artistes signature device* The plate is a characteristic example of one of Beardsley^s various manners — the phase of his work in which he de- lighted in depicting pierrots and 7 candles guttered by unseen gusts of air* Another book-plate designed by Beardsley at this time was merely one of his elaborate border designs for ^^ Le Morte d' Arthur'' (J893-4), convert- ed into an Ex Libris* The late Gleeson White made note of this, in a paragraph or so devoted to Beardsley's book- plates in his essay on British book-plates* (Vide ''Modern Book-Plates and their Design- ers/' London and New York : John Lane, 1898-90 This is all the data he gave, and I am unable to add to this 8 meagre information. In the same way Mr* White listed a Savoy Magazine prospectus made into a plate* There were two Savoy prospectuses, and they were printed in J 895* Unlike several other drawings made into book-plates, these two may be authorized, says Mr. White. Another design of this nature I know of, which has never been mentioned in print, is the drawing ^^ The Scarlet Pastoral'' with ''The Book-Plate of H. F. W. Man- ners-Sutton '' written on it. I do not know whether this was added by Beardsley or not. 9 Aside from its value as a book-plate, Beardsley^s ^* Ex Libris Olive Custance ^^ is per- haps the most notable of his mi- nor drawings^ As a book-plate it is certainly most charming* The drawing entitled ^^ Au- brey Beardsley^s Book-Plate/^ reproduced in the first ^^ Book of Fifty Drawings by Aubrey Beardsley/^ is in reality no book-plate at alL It is even doubtful if Beardsley ever used it as such* Gleeson White, in the essay I have already referred to, also speaks of book-plates designed by Beardsley for Alaister Crow- 10 ley and Gerald Kelly, adding that they have not been repro- duced — probably using this word as meaning published* A short time ago I came into possession of these plates, and find they are reproductions of the portrait of Madame Re- jane drawn by Beardsley in 1893, and reproduced on page 78 of ^^The Early Work of Aubrey Beardsley'' (t899) and of the drawing represent- ing Flosshilde (J 896). To these drawings have been added, with a pen, ^^ Ex Libris Alaister Crowley'' and ^^Ex Libris Gerald Kelly/' II J^ Eighty-five copies of this book have been printed on hand-made paper and three on Japanese vellum duringDecem- ber, 1902, at the De Vinne Press, New York, United States of America. I- If V. Y k ^ r^ J" U.C. BEBKELE C021S7I ( -^■Kv. W* It!: («t