Beardsley (Aubrey).- Malory (Sir Thomas) [Le Morte Darthur] The Birth and Life and Acts of King Arthur, 2 vol., one of 1500 copies, photogravure frontispieces, 18 plates (5 double-page), illustrations and decorations by Aubrey Beardlsey, some light foxing, mostly to first and last few leaves, upper hinges cracking but covers holding firm, original cloth, gilt, rubbed and toned with some staining, t.e.g., others uncut, 4to, 1893-4.

⁂ Beardsley's first major commission and an early masterpiece, produced when he was only 20 years old. The young artist met the publisher J.M. Dent who was looking for someone to illustrate an edition of Morte d'Arthur. On seeing Beardsley's trial drawing 'The Achieving of the Sangreal' the publisher was reputedly rendered speechless by its quality. Duly commissioned, Beardsley produced a body of work which took the medievalism of the Pre-Raphaelites and married it to his own bizarre imagination and Japanese-influenced style, making his reputation. They are among the most stunning illustrations he ever produced.