"Under The Hill and other essays" by Aubrey Beardsley - John Lane, London - 1913 second Beardsley edition - 25cmx18cm - condition: very good, in original publisher's binding with Beardsley gilt motif on covers, all Beardsley plates present his posthumous collection of Beardsley's writing, also featuring previously unpublished drawings. Appearing alongside Beardsley's poems and letters is the titular story, his unfinished erotic novel based on the legend of Tannhäuser. At the time it was considered so explicit as to be unpublishable except in expurgated form. Beardsley (1872-1898) turned to the Tannhäuserlied as a project in which he could both display his literary prowess and have creative control over the relationship between the text and the illustrations. This popular myth of decadence and remorse inspired various creative endeavours in the last decade of the 19th century, such as Wagner's opera. Beardsley transposed his version of the story to 18th-century France, but his treatment became increasingly pornographic. This was to such an extent that when Leonard Smithers printed it in the magazine on which they collaborated, The Savoy, it was only with the offending passages removed. The edition at hand is similarly cut, but it adds several additional illustrations which did not appear in The Savoy. Three additional sketches which had yet to be published are also included at the rear of the volume.