And I have a first edition of his Swinburne volume but the swine who owned that before me chopped out the colour plates so it’s missing some of the best drawings, a common problem with old illustrated books. Always check first if you see something for sale! Still nice to have though as the black and white printing is very sharp and clear.

Thanks for these – absolutely excellent. Here’s a man, like Beardsley, unafraid to leave some SPACE in his work. I agree, not as original, elegant nor as demented (I’m thinking the Rue Morgue illo here) as Harry Clarke could be, but still infused with the stark power that only black & white illustrations retain.
This material begs for a handsome book collection – come on Taschen, sort it out!

Such books are often beautiful, but I am unable to force continuing interest (yes, I am a hick by definition, guilty as charged), unless their attractive format is used to depict particular things I find very pleasing to the eye, things that most parents think would shock or harm their children, regardless of their stances or leanings. I could speak for most young men I know personally, to say that most boys probably think of some beastly shit before they ever consider silly, equally irrational adult things like finding the girl of their dreams or any of the other crap used in day care propaganda films.

Back to my original thought, there aren’t nearly people who can be considered spellbindingly creative with death. Everyone’s talking to me about Saw or Hostel sequels, and the directors can kiss my ass as far as I am concerned because they’re nothing more than sub par recyclers of ground already long broken, yet gaining all the credit because subtitles and foreign languages hurt yuppies’ heads. Ah, we all know, its these people and their nano-second attention spans who ultimately determine what constitutes a great storyline.