Cover Design
Print
1893 (drawn), 1894 (first published), 1907 (published)
1893 (drawn), 1894 (first published), 1907 (published)
Artist/Maker | |
Place of origin |
This cover was designed for the 1894 edition of Oscar Wilde's Salome (published by John Lane) but was not used. Lane first used it for the cover of 'Under the Hill and other essays in prose and verse', a posthumous volume of Beardsley's literary output published in 1904. Linda Gertner Zatlin, author of the Beardsley catalogue raisonné, notes on p. 53 that in Kenneth Clark's 1979 book, 'Clark noted the design's Islamic character but did not know Beardsley was familiar with Persian art, which Charles B. Cochran said the artist studied at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The design may be based on William Morris's textile design Peacock and Dragon (designed 1878, itself influenced by Islamic design)'.
p. 53 Zatlin, L.G. (2016) Aubrey Beardsley. A catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press.
p. 53 Zatlin, L.G. (2016) Aubrey Beardsley. A catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Object details
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Object type | |
Titles |
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Materials and techniques | Line block print on Japanese vellum |
Brief description | Print by Aubrey Beardsley, 'Cover Design', plate III from 'A Portfolio of Aubrey Beardsley's drawings illustrating 'Salome' by Oscar Wilde', published by John Lane, London, 1907, line block print on Japanese vellum |
Physical description | Black and white line block print on Japanese vellum depicting a group of stylised peacock feathers and other decorative motifs, with the play's title and author at the top of the design. |
Dimensions |
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Style | |
Marks and inscriptions |
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Credit line | Given by Michael Harari, in memory of his father, Ralph A. Harari |
Object history | From 'A Portfolio of Aubrey Beardsley's drawings illustrating 'Salome' by Oscar Wilde'. Second issue. Published by John Lane, London [1907]. With contents sheet in letterpress and 17 plates [E.422 to 438-1972] in a portfolio of grey-green paper boards, half bound in vellum, with green silk tapes, stamped in gold with title and the rose-bush motif from the 1894 edition. With the stamp of A. Lang Buchhandlung Moskau inside the front cover. The plates are no longer in the portfolio but are now mounted separately. |
Production | First printed in 1894; this print is from the second edition, 1907. |
Association | |
Literary reference | Oscar Wilde's 'Salome' |
Summary | This cover was designed for the 1894 edition of Oscar Wilde's Salome (published by John Lane) but was not used. Lane first used it for the cover of 'Under the Hill and other essays in prose and verse', a posthumous volume of Beardsley's literary output published in 1904. Linda Gertner Zatlin, author of the Beardsley catalogue raisonné, notes on p. 53 that in Kenneth Clark's 1979 book, 'Clark noted the design's Islamic character but did not know Beardsley was familiar with Persian art, which Charles B. Cochran said the artist studied at the Victoria & Albert Museum. The design may be based on William Morris's textile design Peacock and Dragon (designed 1878, itself influenced by Islamic design)'. p. 53 Zatlin, L.G. (2016) Aubrey Beardsley. A catalogue raisonné. 2 vols. New Haven: Yale University Press. |
Bibliographic references |
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Other number | Plate III - Plate number |
Collection | |
Accession number | E.424-1972 |
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Record created | June 30, 2009 |
Record URL |
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