Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley

Edited by Sasha Dovzhyk and Simon Wilson

Jewelled Tortoise 10

Critical Texts 78

Modern Humanities Research Association

18 November 2022

ISBN: 978-1-839541-09-4 (hardback)  •  RRP £39.99, $49.99, €49.99

ISBN: 978-1-839541-08-7 (paperback)  •  RRP £16.99, $19.99, €19.99

ISBN: 978-1-839541-10-0 (JSTOR ebook)

Sample: Google Books  •  Access online: Books@JSTOR

ModernEnglishFiction


This edition of Aubrey Beardsley's writings aims to establish Beardsley’s reputation as a key figure in Decadent literature on a par with his iconic status in the visual arts. It publishes for the first time the text of Beardsley’s unfinished erotic novel Under the Hill (written between 1894 and 1896) in its original form alongside Beardsley's manuscript. The extensive scholarly annotations reveal the breadth of Beardsley's literary references, which range from medieval romance to French erotic slang. By way of introducing the readers to other forms of his writing, the volume also reproduces and annotates a selection of Beardsley’s poems and essayistic prose.

Reviews:

  • ‘Sections of [Under the Hill] appeared, heavily edited, in The Savoy during Beardsley’s life, and it has been reissued several times since in varying degrees of expurgation. But it has never received the lavish scholarly attention that Sasha Dovzhyk and Simon Wilson bestow in Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley.’ — Colton Valentine, New Yorker 13 February 2023
  • ‘Sasha Dovzhyk and Simon Wilson’s edition... offers a thorough and judicious introduction to a figure whose influence as an artist is uncontested while making a compelling case for reconsidering Beardsley’s significance as a writer... Their scrupulously scholarly edition strikes a deft balance between providing a rich resource for Beardsley scholars and making Under the Hill accessible to general readers. They provide able guidance to Beardsley’s densely allusive world, painstakingly tracking down and teasing apart the thicket of references threaded throughout Beardsley’s prose... One of the pleasures of the edition is the clear personal investments of the editors; this is clearly a labour of love and their admiration for their subject is – in a metaphor Beardsley himself would relish – contagious.’ — Nicole Fluhr, The Wildean 64, 2024, 206-09
  • ‘The appearance of this volume is a notable event in the history of publishing, of nineteenth-century erotica, of the fine arts and of the cosmopolitan spirit of the fin de siècle... an elegant, allusive work of scholarship freighted with the learned references that the art of Aubrey Beardsley demands and deserves.’ — John Stokes, Studies in Walter Pater and Aestheticism 8, 2023, 121-25

Contents:

vi-vi

List of Illustrations
Simon Wilson
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.3

Cite
vii-vii

Acknowledgements
Simon Wilson
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.4

Cite
viii-xii

Foreword
Simon Wilson
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.5

Cite
1-14

Introduction Under the Hill: Aubrey Beardsley’s Cabinet of Decadent Curiosities
Sasha Dovzhyk
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.6

Cite
15-18

Aubrey Beardsley: An Expanded Chronology
Simon Wilson
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.7

Cite
19-20

A Note On the Texts and Editorial Decisions
Sasha Dovzhyk
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.8

Cite
22-22

Abbreviation
Sasha Dovzhyk
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.9

Cite
23-59

Annotated Version
Aubrey Beardsley
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.10

Cite
60-65

Creative Expurgation: ‘Chapter IV’ For the Savoy
Aubrey Beardsley
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.11

Cite
66-92

Diplomatic Transcription
Aubrey Beardsley
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.12

Cite
93-173

Reproduction of the Manuscript
Aubrey Beardsley
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.13

Cite
174-174

Checklist of Beardsley’s Letters Mentioning Under the Hill
Aubrey Beardsley
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.14

Cite
175-191

Appendix A: Poetry and Essays
Aubrey Beardsley
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.15

Cite
192-200

Appendix B: Critical Contexts
Sasha Dovzhyk
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.16

Cite
201-203

Select Bibliography
Sasha Dovzhyk
doi:10.2307/j.ctv33mgb1g.17

Cite

Bibliography entry:

Dovzhyk, Sasha, and Simon Wilson (eds), Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley, Jewelled Tortoise, 10 (MHRA, 2022)

First footnote reference: 35 Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley, ed. by Sasha Dovzhyk and Simon Wilson, Jewelled Tortoise, 10 (MHRA, 2022), p. 21.

Subsequent footnote reference: 37 Dovzhyk and Wilson, p. 47.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)

Bibliography entry:

Dovzhyk, Sasha, and Simon Wilson (eds). 2022. Decadent Writings of Aubrey Beardsley, Jewelled Tortoise, 10 (MHRA)

Example citation: ‘A quotation occurring on page 21 of this work’ (Dovzhyk and Wilson 2022: 21).

Example footnote reference: 35 Dovzhyk and Wilson 2022: 21.

(To see how these citations were worked out, follow this link.)


This title is distributed on behalf of MHRA by Ingram’s. Booksellers and libraries can order direct from Ingram by setting up an ipage Account: click here for more.


Permanent link to this title: