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Autograph letter signed ('Aubrey Beardsley') to [John Lane], 114 Cambridge Street, London, n.d. [1894]
Details
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898)
Autograph letter signed ('Aubrey Beardsley') to [John Lane], 114 Cambridge Street, London, n.d. [1894]
Three pages, 177 x 113mm, bifolium, illustrated with a self-caricature in ink of a mournful Beardsley pointing an elongated finger at a noose. Half dark blue morocco slipcase. Provenance: The Rosenbach Company, A Catalogue of Original Manuscripts, 1933, item 10; Christie's New York, 14 December 1984, lot 128; Frederick R. Koch (1933-2020) – his sale, Christie's New York, 7 June 1990, lot 6; Barry Humphries (1934-2023).
Threatening suicide if his drawing of a 'fat woman' is not published. The letter opens with a threat illustrated by Beardsley's tearful self-depiction: 'I shall most assuredly commit suicide if the fat woman does not appear in No 1 of the Yellow Book. / I have shown it to all sorts & conditions of men – & women. All agree that it is one of my very best efforts & extremely witty ... The Picture shall be called "A Study in Major lines" ... Do say yes. / I shall hold demonstrations in Trafalgar Square if you don't ...'.
The first issue of the Yellow Book appeared on 15 April 1894: it was to be closely associated with the Decadent Movement in general and Aubrey Beardsley in particular. The difficulty with Beardsley's drawing, 'The Fat Woman', was principally that it was a noticeable caricature of the wife of James Whistler (and indeed Beardsley's proposed alternative title for it is a parody of Whistler's titles for paintings). John Lane (1854-1925), the publisher of the Yellow Book, was to struggle repeatedly to restrain Beardsley's desire to shock: in this instance, he held firm, and the drawing was published elsewhere.
Autograph letter signed ('Aubrey Beardsley') to [John Lane], 114 Cambridge Street, London, n.d. [1894]
Three pages, 177 x 113mm, bifolium, illustrated with a self-caricature in ink of a mournful Beardsley pointing an elongated finger at a noose. Half dark blue morocco slipcase. Provenance: The Rosenbach Company, A Catalogue of Original Manuscripts, 1933, item 10; Christie's New York, 14 December 1984, lot 128; Frederick R. Koch (1933-2020) – his sale, Christie's New York, 7 June 1990, lot 6; Barry Humphries (1934-2023).
Threatening suicide if his drawing of a 'fat woman' is not published. The letter opens with a threat illustrated by Beardsley's tearful self-depiction: 'I shall most assuredly commit suicide if the fat woman does not appear in No 1 of the Yellow Book. / I have shown it to all sorts & conditions of men – & women. All agree that it is one of my very best efforts & extremely witty ... The Picture shall be called "A Study in Major lines" ... Do say yes. / I shall hold demonstrations in Trafalgar Square if you don't ...'.
The first issue of the Yellow Book appeared on 15 April 1894: it was to be closely associated with the Decadent Movement in general and Aubrey Beardsley in particular. The difficulty with Beardsley's drawing, 'The Fat Woman', was principally that it was a noticeable caricature of the wife of James Whistler (and indeed Beardsley's proposed alternative title for it is a parody of Whistler's titles for paintings). John Lane (1854-1925), the publisher of the Yellow Book, was to struggle repeatedly to restrain Beardsley's desire to shock: in this instance, he held firm, and the drawing was published elsewhere.
