Aubrey BeardsleyBritish, 1872–1898Initial Letter V (Pan); verso: Initial Letters
Can I see it?
Not on view at present
Where is “Initial Letter V (Pan); verso: Initial Letters” now? Collection: Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge. Not on view at present. Checked September 29, 2026.
Cambridge, United States
It belongs to the collection, but is not on display at present.
- Checked
- In this state since
- Source
- The museum
Details
- Accession number
- 1943.635
In the catalog
Sources
- Harvard Art Museums
- Image: Harvard Art Museums — © President and Fellows of Harvard College
In the life of Aubrey Beardsley
The whole life1894–1896
His health sharply declines
Between 1894 and 1896, at the height of his success, his health sharply deteriorated. “I know my illness is incurable,” he wrote to Raffalovich, “but I am sure measures can be taken to slow its course.”
December 1896
A violent haemorrhage
In December 1896 Beardsley suffered a violent haemorrhage, which left his health precarious.
31 March 1897
Received into the Catholic Church
On 31 March 1897 Beardsley was received into the Catholic Church. His close friends included both Anglican clergymen and Catholic priests, who acknowledged the sincerity and depth of his faith.
April 1897
Moves to Menton
By April 1897 his failing health prompted a move to the French Riviera, to Menton. There he was cared for by his mother and his sister Mabel, while his chief financial support came from the writer and patron Marc-André Raffalovich.
7 March 1898
A dying plea to destroy “Lysistrata”
In his last letter, to his publisher Leonard Smithers and his friend Herbert Charles Pollitt, Beardsley implored them to destroy all copies of Lysistrata and all obscene drawings. Both ignored his wish, and Smithers went on selling reproductions and forgeries of his work.
16 March 1898
Death in Menton
Beardsley died of tuberculosis at the Cosmopolitan Hotel in Menton, fully conscious, with his mother and sister at his side; he was twenty-five. The next day, after a requiem Mass in Menton Cathedral, he was buried in the Cimetière du Trabuquet.
