Aubrey Vincent Beardsley

Jon Michael Varese (Independent Scholar - North America)

Ed. by Jessica E. Gossling, Goldsmiths College, University of London
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.07: English Writing and Culture of the Victorian Period, 1837-1901.
Vol. editors: Gillian Fenwick (University of Toronto), Jessica E. Gossling (Goldsmiths College, University of London), Grace Moore (University of Otago)

Dates

Born 21 Aug 1872
Died 16 Mar 1898
Activity 1892-1898

Places

Born in England
Active in England

Activities

Primary

Illustrator

Resources

Aubrey Vincent Beardsley was born on 21 August 1872 at 12 Buckingham Road, Brighton, into a family whose aspirations outpaced its means. His father, Vincent Paul Beardsley, carried the vestiges of a privileged upbringing but was unable to sustain a lasting profession, while his mother, Ellen Agnus Pitt, came from a solidly middle-class household with a strong connection to music and teaching. Ellen was a gifted pianist who had once performed publicly, and this artistic presence shaped the household and exposed her children early to a world of culture. But the Beardsleys’ finances remained perennially unstable, the family shifting lodgings as Vincent drifted through various posts. This mix of refinement and precarity – comfort shadowed by anxiety – became a defining atmosphere of Aubrey Beardsley’s early life.

The siblings Aubrey and Mabel Beardsley formed an...

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2444 words

Citation: Varese, Jon Michael. "Aubrey Vincent Beardsley". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 06 March 2026 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/speople.php?rec=true&UID=311, accessed 19 September 2026.]