AUBREY BEARDSLEY THE CLOWN, THE HARLEQUIN, THE PIERROT OF HIS AGE [Illustration: PORTRAIT OF AUBREY BEARDSLEY _by F. H. Evans_] AUBREY BEARDSLEY THE CLOWN, THE HARLEQUIN, THE PIERROT OF HIS AGE [Illustration] HALDANE MACFALL NEW YORK SIMON AND SCHUSTER MCMXXVII COPYRIGHT, 1927, BY SIMON AND SCHUSTER, INC. PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA TO EARL E. FISK THIS SMALL TRIBUTE TO A NOBLE COMPANIONSHIP H. M. “I have one aim--the grotesque. If I am not grotesque I am nothing.” “I may claim to have some command of line. I try to get as much as possible out of a single curve or straight line.” [AUBREY BEARDSLEY.] CONTENTS FOREWORD 17 I: BIRTH AND FAMILY 23 II: CHILDHOOD AND SCHOOL 27 “THE PUERILIA” III: YOUTH IN LONDON AS A CITY CLERK 35 Mid-1888 to Mid-1891--Sixteen to Nineteen THE “JUVENILIA” AND THE “SCRAP BOOK” IV: FORMATIVE PERIOD OF DISCIPLESHIP 42 Mid-1891 to Mid-1892--Nineteen to Twenty THE “BURNE-JONESESQUES” V: BEARDSLEY BECOMES AN ARTIST 58 Mid-1892 to Mid-1893--Twenty to Twenty-one MEDIÆVALISM AND THE HAIRY-LINE JAPANESQUES “LE MORTE D’ARTHUR” AND “BON MOTS” VI: THE JAPANESQUES 95 Mid-1893 to the New Year of 1894--Twenty-one “SALOME” VII: THE GREEK VASE PHASE 113 New Year of 1894 to Mid-1895--Twenty-one to Twenty-three “THE YELLOW BOOK” VIII: THE GREAT PERIOD 159 “THE SAVOY” AND THE AQUATINTESQUES Mid-1895 to Yuletide 1896--Twenty-three to Twenty-four I. “THE SAVOY” IX: THE GREAT PERIOD 234 ESSAYS IN WASH AND LINE 1897 to the End--Twenty-five II. THE AQUATINTESQUES X: THE END 260 1898 A KEY TO THE DATES OF WORKS BY BEARDSLEY 269 ILLUSTRATIONS PORTRAIT OF AUBREY BEARDSLEY _by F. H. Evans_ _Frontispiece_ SELF-PORTRAIT OF AUBREY BEARDSLEY 25