Books

Aubrey Beardsley

Portrait Study of Enoch Soames, 1894.

Frederick H. Evans 1853 - 1943.
Photogravure, after an original platinum print.
18 x 12cm.
Engraved by the Swan Electric Engraving Company.

Frederick Evans, the bookseller whose shop, Jones and Evans, near Cheapside was frequented by the young Aubrey Beardsley during his few months of employment as a city clerk, was also a talented amateur photographer. Although less well-known than the celebrated “Gargoyle” study of Beardsley, his precocious protégé, Evans's portrait of Soames is also a delicately observed evocation of the artistic sensibility of the 'Nineties. This print is inscribed on the reverse with technical notes by Evans:
    “Light dim, subject also; a bit ‘f.8’.”