Keynotes—Title

Title page illustration for Keynotes, a collection of eight short stories by George Egerton. The picture shows a woman wearing a large hat and carrying a parasol, a Pierrot, and a jester-like figure playing the guitar.

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.