The Works of Max Beerbohm, Max Beerbohm [epub read online books .txt] 📗

that he contributed to The Clown and other undergraduate journals: also that he was a member of the Myrmidons’ Club. It was during his residence at Oxford that his famous treatise on Cosmetics appeared in the pages of an important London Quarterly, sets of which are still occasionally to be found in booksellers’ catalogues at a high price, though the American millionaire collector has made it one of the rarest of finds. These were the days of his youth, the golden age of “decadence.” For is not decadence merely a fin de siècle literary term synonymous with the “sowing his wild oats” of our grandfathers? a phrase still surviving in agricultural districts, according to Mr. Andrew Lang, Mr. Edward Clodd, and other Folk-Lorists.

Mr. Beerbohm, of course, was not the only writer of his period who appeared as the champion of artifice. A contemporary, one Richard Le Gallienne, an eminent Pose Fancier, has committed himself somewhere to the statement that “The bravest men that ever trod this planet have worn corsets.”

But what is so far away as yesteryear? In 1894, Mr. Beerbohm, in virtue of his “Defence of Cosmetics,” was but a pamphleteer. In 1895 he was the famous historian, for in that year appeared the two earliest of his profound historical studies, The History of the Year 1880, and his work on King George the Fourth. During the growth of these masterpieces, his was a familiar figure in the British Museum and the Record Office, and tradition asserts that the enlargement of the latter building, which took place some time shortly afterwards, was mainly owing to his exertions.

Attended by his half-brother, Mr. Tree, Mrs. Tree and a numerous theatrical suite, he sailed on the 16th of January 1895, for America, with a view, it is said, to establishing a monarchy in that land. Mr. Beerbohm does not appear to have succeeded in this project, though he was interviewed in many of the newspapers of the States. He returned, re infecta, to the land of his birth, three months later.

After that he devoted himself to the completion of his lifework, here set forth.

The materials for this collection were drawn, with the courteous acquiescence of various publishers, from The Pageant, The Savoy, The Chap Book, and The Yellow Book. Internal evidence shows that Mr. Beerbohm took fragments of his writings from Vanity (of New York) and The Unicorn, that he might inlay them in the First Essay, of whose scheme they are really a part. The Third Essay he rewrote. The rest he carefully revised, and to some he gave new names.

Although it was my privilege on one occasion to meet Mr. Beerbohm⁠—at five-o’clock tea⁠—when advancing years, powerless to rob him of one shade of his wonderful urbanity, had nevertheless imprinted evidence of their flight in the pathetic stoop, and the low melancholy voice of one who, though resigned, yet yearns for the happier past, I feel that too precise a description of his personal appearance would savour of impertinence. The curious, on this point, I must refer to Mr. Sickert’s and Mr. Rothenstein’s portraits, which I hear that Mr. Lionel Cust is desirous of acquiring for the National Portrait Gallery.

It is needless to say that this bibliography has been a labour of love, and that any further information readers may care to send me will be gladly incorporated in future editions.

I must here express my indebtedness to Dr. Garnett, C.B., Mr. Bernard Quaritch, Mr. Clement K. Shorter, Mr. L. F. Austin, Mr. J. M. Bullock, Mr. Lewis Hind, Mr. and Mrs. H. Beerbohm Tree, Mrs. Leverson, and Miss Grace Conover, without whose assistance my work would have been far more arduous.

J. L.

The Albany, May 1896.

The Bibliography of the Works of Max Beerbohm

1886

A Letter to the Editor. The Carthusian, Dec. 1886, signed Diogenes.

A bitter cry of complaint against the dullness of the school paper. [Not reprinted]

[1890]

Beccerius | a Latin fragment | with explanatory notes by M. B.

About twelve couplets printed on rough yellow paper, pp. 1 to 4, cr. 8vo, notes in double columns at foot of page.

No publisher’s or printer’s name. [N.D.]

1894

A Defence of Cosmetics. The Yellow Book, Vol. I, April 1894, pp. 65⁠–⁠82.

Reprinted in “The Works” under the title of “The Pervasion of Rouge.”

Lines suggested by Miss Cissy Loftus. The Sketch, May 9, 1894, p. 71. A Caricature. [Not reprinted]

Mr. Phil May and Mr. Aubrey Beardsley. The Pall Mall Budget, June 7, 1894. Two Caricatures. [Not reprinted]

Two Eminent Statesmen (the Rt. Hon. A. J. Balfour and the Rt. Hon. Sir Wm. Harcourt). Pall Mall Budget, July 5, 1894. Two Caricatures. [Not reprinted]

Two Eminent Actors (Mr. Beerbohm Tree and Mr. Edward Terry). Pall Mall Budget, July 26, 1894. Two Caricatures. [Not reprinted]

A Letter to the Editor. The Yellow Book, Vol. II, July 1894, pp. 281⁠–⁠284. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: Gus Elen (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Sept. 15, 1894. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: Oscar Wilde (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Sept. 22, 1894. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: R. G. Knowles, “There’s a picture for you!” (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Sept. 29, 1894. [Not reprinted]

M. Henri Rochefort and Mr. Arthur Roberts. Pall Mall Budget, Oct. 4, 1894. Two Caricatures. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: Henry Arthur Jones (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Oct. 6, 1894. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: Harry Furniss (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Oct. 13, 1894. [Not reprinted]

A Caricature of George the Fourth. The Yellow Book, Vol. III, Oct. 1894. [Not reprinted]

A Note on George the Fourth. The Yellow Book, Vol. III, Oct. 1894, pp. 247⁠–⁠269.

Reprinted in “The Works” under the title of “King George the Fourth.”

A parody of this appeared under the title of “A Phalse Note on George the Fourth,” in Punch, October 27, 1894, p. 204.

Personal Remarks: Lord Lonsdale (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Oct. 20, 1894. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: W. S. Gilbert (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Oct. 27, 1894. [Not reprinted]

Personal Remarks: L. Raven Hill (Caricature). Pick-Me-Up, Nov. 3,