The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97

London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane, 1893-97.

Price: $14,000.00

Hardcover. A collection of 25 volumes from the Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories, which eventually ran to 33 titles over the course of its publication by John Lane in London from 1893-97. This collection includes the first 15 consecutive volumes and four later volumes designed by Aubrey Beardsley from 1893-96, and six of the final volumes designed by Patten Wilson. The collection also includes the scarce 1895 series advertisement poster and the 1896 series prospectus, both designed by Beardsley.

The series published new works by leading figures of London’s fin de siècle era, and proved to be both popular and sensational due to the radical nature of the works it published and to Beardsley’s provocative covers and title page designs. For example, the first volume which gave the name to the series, *Keynotes*, is the first short story collection by George Egerton (pen name of Mary Chavelita Dunne), “noted for her psychological probing, innovative narrative techniques, and outspokenness about women’s need for freedom, including sexual freedom”. The volume put her in the vanguard of the “New Woman” movement.

Other important works in the collection include Florence Farr’s first novel, *The Dancing Faun*. A “First Wave” feminist and leader of the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, Farr's novel is described as “strikingly Wildean in its style” and features Beardsley’s caricature of the artist James McNeill Whistler in the form of a faun. The third volume in the series, *Poor Folk* is the first translation into English of Dostoevsky’s first novel, bound in yellow cloth with a beautiful pictorial design by Beardsley. Other notable volumes include Arthur Machen’s *The Great God Pan and the Inmost Light* and *The Three Imposters*, M.P. Shiel’s *Prince Zaleski*, and *The Girl from the Farm* by Gertrude Dix.

Beardsley produced the front cover and title page designs for a total of 19 volumes in this collection, and several of the 18 key monograms that adorn the back cover and spine of each volume. After Beardsley was banned from The Bodley Head in April 1895, John Lane hired Patten Wilson to design the remainder of the Keynotes Series. Wilson had distinguished himself for his illustrations for *The Yellow Book*, which Lane was also publishing at the same time in collaboration with Beardsley.

All but two volumes are first edition copies and have been checked against Mark Samuels Lasner’s *Selective Checklist of the Published Work of Aubrey Beardsley*. Overall very good with modest rubbing and toning; four in fair condition (three of which are among later volumes designed by Wilson).

A detailed list of all 25 volumes, the poster,and prospectus, with notes on Beardsley’s contributions and individual condition statements, is available.


Item #463258

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Item #463258 The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97. Aubrey BEARDSLEY, Patten Wilson.
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97
The Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories: A Collection of 25 Volumes Designed by Aubrey Beardsley and Patten Wilson, together with the Series Poster and the Prospectus Designed by Beardsley, 1893-97