BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898) - photo 1
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898) - photo 2
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898) - photo 3
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898) - photo 4
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898) - photo 5

BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898)

Lot 81
13.02.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1363004
Lot 81 | BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898)
Estimate value
£ 3 000 – 5 000
BEARDSLEY, Aubrey (1872-1898)
Ben Johnson. His Volpone: or The Fox. A new edition, with a critical essay on the author by Vincent O'Sullivan and a frontispiece, five initial letters and a cover design, illustrative and decorative by Aubrey Beardsley. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898.
Number 98 of 100 de luxe copies, on Japanese vellum paper, in the publisher's vellum binding designed by Beardsley. Beardsley was commissioned to produce the artwork for this edition of Volpone in November 1897; 24 illustrations including a frontispiece, decorative initials and a front cover design were planned. He could only complete the cover design, the frontispiece, and six vignettes before his death on 16 March 1898. Beardsley was enthusiastic about the project, writing 'I am making pictures of Ben Jonson's adorable and astonishing Volpone [...] I carry Volpone about with me from dawn to dawn and dream of nothing else' (Nelson). His illustration for 'Volpone Adoring His Treasure', used as the frontispiece, is one of his most celebrated images; Beardsley himself considered it one of the strongest things he had ever produced. This copy was owned by Herbert Pollitt whose bookplate was designed by Beardsley. The design was initially used by Beardsley for his own bookplate (one of only three he designed) and was published as 'Bookplate of the Artist' in A Book of Fifty Drawings. 'Beardsley had been promising Pollitt a bookplate for some time. When this drawing was published in A Book of Fifty Drawings in 1897 conscience may have got the better of the artist and in Pollitt's copy of the edition de luxe Beardsley added the lettering in india ink on the reproduction. From this Pollitt had a new block made (by Carl Henschel) for his own use' (Lasner). Herbert Charles Pollitt was a collector, correspondent of Wilde, and patron of Beardsley and Whistler, and an on-stage female impersonator who performed as Diane de Rougy. At one stage he owned most of Beardsley’s notorious 'Lysistrata' drawings. Lasner 129.

Quarto (285 x 222 mm). Number 98 of 100 copies on Japanese paper, numbered in purple ink by the publisher, title in red and black, frontispiece and six illustrated initials, containing an extra set of five of the six illustrations reproduced as enlarged photogravure plates (as with all copies). Publisher's vellum, title within an elaborate all over design gilt on the upper side, designed by Beardsley, gilt vignette of publisher's device 'Puck on Pegasus' on lower side, top edge gilt. Provenance: Herbert Charles Pollitt (1871-1942; bookplate) — Barry Humphries (1934-2023; bookplate).
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
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13.02.2025 – 13.02.2025
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