Best of Beardsley

by R A Walker

Rich selection of 170 boldly executed black-and-white illustrations ranging from illustrations for Laclos' Les Liaisons Dangereuses and Balzac's La Comedie Humaine to magazine cover designs, book plates, title-page ornaments for books, silhouettes, and delightful mini portraits of major composers.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, History, British Literature, 19th Century

Paperback

First published January 1, 1983

Reviews

[Emma Sea · Rating 4 out of 5]

For a cheap book with a good range of Beardsley's work this is a winner.

The black ink varies in intensity, but only a few of the images in my copy were marginal. The paper is a pretty good quality for a budget line, although you do get some shadowing from the other page (see pic). The images are well-placed on the page with plenty of white space (also see pic).

Best of all, there's a variety of Beardsley's work; from book illustrations (including Salome & Mort d'Arthur), magazine illustrations, book covers, posters, a Christmas card etc.

It's a very good introduction to his work, and cheap enough you could happily let this loose amongst grabbyhands if you were teaching an art class.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clark is cutting; he's almost vicious in some of his prose. He certainly holds no prisoners. Beardsley's art has these qualities to it too in places; whilst it is fascinating to see his oeuvre, it was often rather a creepy experience too. I didn't know much about Beardsley as an individual before beginning, so in that sense I'm pleased that I picked this up. I far would have preferred to read something a little more impartial, however.

[Miz · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really good reproduction of some of the more unknown or unusual illustrations by Beardsley, as well as some of the classics. The author carried a weird personal bias all the way through, dictating that Beardsley's prose was absurd and the characters in his drawings were marked more or less with 'evil'. Not really the general critical discussion I was looking for.

[Rachel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bit more of a coffee table book than educational, but still awesome thanks to the plates of Beardsley's work. I prefer Stephen Calloway's book but he wrote significantly more on the artist and included more images.

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a wonderful and strange mind he had!

Such intricate work! I wonder how long each piece took him, on average.

[Ingrid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent selection of Beardsley’s work from various periods. Would have liked a little more context for some of the pieces, or perhaps a longer introduction.

[Juan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Valuable mainly for the reproductions of Beardsley's drawings. I found the introductory text and the short commentaries that accompany each of the drawings to be only mildly interesting.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ave Atque Vale.