a set of initials for an edition of 'Volpone.' These were finished only a week or two before his death.
Beardsley had musical gifts of a high order; the charms of his conversation were great; and he had an extraordinary knowledge of books for so young a man. Certain sotto voce whisperings of his art were, perhaps, to be accounted for by the want of physical balance of the poitrinaire. Throughout his life he suffered from weakness of the lungs, and his abnormal activity had seemed to his friends to be at least partly due to a desire to forestall death, and, in spite of its imminence, to leave a substantial legacy behind him. Few men have done so much work in so brief a space of time — work, moreover, which was always deliberate and finished in the true artistic sense. Shortly before his death Aubrey Beardsley was received into the church of Rome. He died of consumption at Mentone on 16 March 1898, and was buried there.
Beardsley's critics see in his art three distinct phases: first, a romantic and Pre-Raphaelite phase, in which the influence of Burne-Jones and Puvis de Chavannes may be traced; secondly, a purely decorative phase, based mainly on the Japanese convention; thirdly, a more delicate and complex way of seeing things, induced by his study of French art in the eighteenth century. To these Mr. Arthur Symons would add a fourth manner, adumbrated in the 'Volpone' initials, in which the grotesque forms of his earlier styles are discarded for acquiescence in nature as she is or may be. The weak point in his art is its capricious-ness. He fails to convince us completely of his sincerity. His peculiarities seem occasionally to have no sounder foundation than a wish to be different. They too often lack that inevitable connection with a root idea which should characterise all design. On the other hand, his inventions betray extreme mental activity, and his technique a hand at once firm, delicate, and sympathetic. To some the strange element in his work seems merely fantastic; to others it appears morbid in the last degree, if not worse. One anonymous critic describes his art as 'the mere glorification of a hideous and putrescent aspect of modern life.' A more sober judgment might call him a pagan infected with a modern interest in psychology. A list of his works, complete to the end of 1896, was compiled by Mr. Aymer Vallance for the 'Book of Fifty Drawings' (1897).
The best portrait of Beardsley is the photographic profile, with his remarkable hands, reproduced in 'The Works of Aubrey Beardsley' (2 vols. 1899, 1901).
[Times, March 1898; Athenæum, March 1898; Academy, March 1898; Studio, April 1898; The Yellow Book, pts. 1-4; Savoy, pts. 1-8; The Works of Aubrey Beardsley, vol. i., The Early Work, with biographical note by H. C. Marillier, 1899, and vol. ii., The Later Work of Aubrey Beardsley, 1901; A. B., by Arthur Symons (Unicorn quartos, No. 4), 1898; A Book of Fifty Drawings, with catalogue by Aymer Vallance; private information.]
BEAUFORT, EDMUND, styled fourth Duke of Somerset (1438?–1471), born about 1438, was second of the three sons of Edmund Beaufort, second duke of Somerset [q. v.], by his wife Eleanor, daughter of Richard de Beauchamp, earl of Warwick [q. v.] After the defeat of the Lancastrians in 1461, Edmund was brought up in France with his younger brother John, and on the execution of his elder brother Henry Beaufort, third duke of Somerset [q. v. Suppl.], Edmund is said to have succeeded as fourth duke. He was so styled by the Lancastrians in February 1471, but his brother's attainder was never reversed, and his titles remained forfeit. In a proclamation dated 27 April 1471 Edmund is spoken of as 'Edmund Beaufort, calling himself duke of Somerset.' He returned from France when Edward IV was driven from the throne by Warwick's defection, and on 4 May 1471 commanded the van of the Lancastrian army at the battle of Tewkesbury, His position was almost unassailable (see plan in Ramsay, ii. 379), but, for some unknown reason, after the battle began he moved down from the heights and attacked Edward IV's right flank. He was assailed by both the king and Richard, duke of Gloucester, and was soon put to flight, his conduct having practically decided the battle in favour of the Yorkists (Arrivall of Edward IV, Camden Soc. pp. 29-30; Warkworth, p. 18; Hall, p. 300). He was taken prisoner, and executed two days later, Monday, 6 May 1471; he was buried on the south side of Tewkesbury Abbey, under an arch (Dyde, Hist. and Antiq, of Tewkesbury, pp. 21-2). His younger brother John had been killed during the battle, and as both died unmarried, 'the house of Beaufort and all the honours to which they were entitled became extinct.'
