Keynotes—Title

Illustrated title page for a collection of eight short stories by George Egerton. The picture features a woman wearing a large hat and carrying a parasol, accompanied by a Pierrot and a jester-like figure playing a guitar with two masks dangling from the headstock.

Keynotes Series of Novels and Short Stories is a brochure advertising the Keynotes Series, which consisted of thirty-four novels and short story collections written by mostly young authors and published by John Lane from 1893 onward. Each book was sold three shillings and six pence, an affordable price which matched the publisher’s aim to help these authors gain a readership. Beardsley created the cover design, which was also used as the title page illustration, for twenty-two of these books.