On 31 October I received my copies of Salome's Bookshelf. Artists and Writers of the 1890s, edited by Simon Alexander Reynolds, a Shakespeare scholar. The book contains nine essays on Fernand Khnopff, Arthur Symons, Max Beerbohm, John Davidson, Charles Conder, Charles Ricketts, Walt Ruding, Oscar Wilde and Ernest Dowson, and is published by Greenwich Exchange (copies may be ordered at the publisher's website).
 |
| Salome's Bookshelf, cover (2025) |
The articles establish connections between literature, music and visual art. My article on Ricketts ('Charles Ricketts and Harmony Between Image and Text') discusses the way in which Ricketts combined (sometimes his own) texts and images at the beginning and end of his career, for example in the magazine The Dial, in Oscar Wilde's The Sphinx and in his later works, such as Beyond the Threshold.
Of the other essays, which introduce new perspectives, I was particularly struck by the article on Charles Conder by Samuel Shaw, who previously wrote about William Rothenstein and Edwardian culture in general.
The photographs for my essay were taken by Jos Uljee (The Hague). Below is a photograph of In the Key of Blue and Other Prose Essays, a different version of which is included in the book.
 |
| John Addington Symonds, In the Key of Blue and Other Prose Essays, cover design by Charles Ricketts (1893) [Photo: Jos Uljee] |