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Aubrey Beardsley Designs from "The Age of Chivalry"
This title features bold black shapes, swirling lines, stylised nature motifs and splendid borders.
48 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
September 19, 2013
I very much dislike the paper the booklet is printed on; it gives Beardsley's work the exact appearance of a child's coloring book. On the plus side, if you wanted to find a nice coloring book, there would be none better.
By no means is this all the images from the actual Mort d'Arthur. I'm not sure why some images were chosen: they've blown chapter endpieces up to A4 size, so the lines are fully 1/4" thick (adding to the coloring-book effect), but haven't included Bedivere casting Excalibur into the waters, for example.
On my copy the staples have rusted and rotted through the cover and discolored the pages. On pages with multiple images little thought (zero thought?) has been given to their arrangement on the page (see pic below). I know it's a budget publication, and possibly was stored in a box in a warehouse somewhere for 30 years, but I bought it new from bookdepository, and this speaks of exceptionally crappy production values.
There is no information about or discussion of the images; only a 2 page potted history of how Beardsley came to be offered the contract to illustrate the book.
If your choice is this or no Beardsley at all, then obvy this, but if you're reading this review then you have an internet connection, and that will honestly give you far better images of the illustrations than the booklet will. Plus, of course, actual information about them.
Please note I have not cut the edge of the scan off: the image really does abut the cut edge of the page.
By no means is this all the images from the actual Mort d'Arthur. I'm not sure why some images were chosen: they've blown chapter endpieces up to A4 size, so the lines are fully 1/4" thick (adding to the coloring-book effect), but haven't included Bedivere casting Excalibur into the waters, for example.
On my copy the staples have rusted and rotted through the cover and discolored the pages. On pages with multiple images little thought (zero thought?) has been given to their arrangement on the page (see pic below). I know it's a budget publication, and possibly was stored in a box in a warehouse somewhere for 30 years, but I bought it new from bookdepository, and this speaks of exceptionally crappy production values.
There is no information about or discussion of the images; only a 2 page potted history of how Beardsley came to be offered the contract to illustrate the book.
If your choice is this or no Beardsley at all, then obvy this, but if you're reading this review then you have an internet connection, and that will honestly give you far better images of the illustrations than the booklet will. Plus, of course, actual information about them.
Please note I have not cut the edge of the scan off: the image really does abut the cut edge of the page.
March 3, 2008
I have zero recollection of even having this book. Thank you goodreads for the impetus to go through the shelves. I'll do a quick preview before Morte D'Arthur arrives.
There isn't much text in this book but people may find it interesting that Beardsley frequented the same book shop as publisher J. M. Dent. On his lunch hours Beardsley brought in illustrations he'd done at night after his day job writing insurance policies. The shop owner collected some of Beardsley's work. When he learned that J.M. Dent did not want to pay Byrne-Jones's fee to illustrate the 1909 publication of "The Morte d'Arthur" he introduced Dent to Beardsley, and, the rest is history.
There isn't much text in this book but people may find it interesting that Beardsley frequented the same book shop as publisher J. M. Dent. On his lunch hours Beardsley brought in illustrations he'd done at night after his day job writing insurance policies. The shop owner collected some of Beardsley's work. When he learned that J.M. Dent did not want to pay Byrne-Jones's fee to illustrate the 1909 publication of "The Morte d'Arthur" he introduced Dent to Beardsley, and, the rest is history.
March 4, 2010
"Out of his inkpot flowed swirling designs, flowers and trees, seen in fevered, non-representational detail, rich fields of black, with white scintillations of bloom, gaunt and angular hags and soberly handsome damsels, evilly pure and purely evil fauns and lewd creatures."
July 1, 2014
I wasn't as impressed with Beardsley's Arthurian illustrations as I was with his Nordic ones, but you can definitely tell that he was on the path to becoming a great artist in time (this was his first professionally published effort).
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews