Peacock cover design for Salomé by Oscar Wilde
Aubrey Vincent Beardsley British
Publisher John Lane, The Bodley Head British
Related author Oscar Wilde Irish
Not on view
In 1907 John Lane issued a portfolio of designs that Aubrey Beardsley created in 1894 for the first British edition of "Salomé." Oscar Wilde's play had been written in French in 1891 then translated into English by Lord Alfred Douglas. Several of the images Beardsley submitted were judged to be too erotic to publish, and either altered or omitted. All were, however, included in the 1907 set. This image reproduces Beardsley's original conception for the front cover, with peacock feather motifs likely inspired by Whistler's Peacock Room at 49 Prince's Gate, Kensington (now Freer Gallery). As published, the 1894 volume used a smaller motif on the cover.