The Yellow Book

by Fraser Harrison (Editor)

The Yellow Book is the most famous of the literary magazines of the 1890s, summing up the mood of those years, when aesthetics became a subject for fierce debate, satirized by Punch and by W.S. Gilbert, and as fiercely defended by the artists and writers who formed the new movement. The Yellow Book, in its brief three years of existence, came in for more than its fair share of denunciation and derision, particularly for its illustrations by Aubrey Beardsley. Fraser Harrison’s selection allows us to find out what all the fuss was about, and he contributes an introduction on the history of the magazine and its social and artistic context. His essay and the selection of contents, by authors and artists who are now deservedly famous, show that The Yellow Book was not merely a succès de scandale, but still has much to offer us today.

Cover illustration: Cover design for Volume IV, January 1845, by Aubrey Beardsley.

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1982

About the author

See Wikipedia on Fraser Harrison.

Reviews

[rob · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Dead Wall was great; as was Crackanthorpes' Haselton's, everything else was mostly devoid of the speculating/doubt of the best fin de siecle stories. Much of the poetry works as a microscope to the feelings of the time, but many of these shorts are variations on "women have changed! Bah!!"