The Pseudonym and Autonym Libraries
1894 · Colour lithograph (poster) · Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
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About this work
- Artist
- Aubrey Beardsley (1872–1898)
- Year
- 1894
- Medium
- Colour lithograph (poster)
- Collection
- Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (Prints and Photographs Division)
- Movement
- Art Nouveau
A tall woman in a long salmon-pink coat and an enormous plumed hat walks past a bookshop window towards the doorway, under the bare stems of a young tree. Aubrey Beardsley designed the poster in 1894 for T. Fisher Unwin's two series of cheap novels, the Pseudonym and Autonym Libraries, and the right-hand panel lists the titles with their prices. It is one of the posters that made the English 'aesthetic' poster famous, flat colour held in by heavy black line. The impression reproduced is in the Library of Congress.
This print reproduces the whole work, uncropped, from a high-resolution scan of the original. The original is in the public domain.
Where it works
Salmon pink and black on pale paper, for a home library, reading nook or hallway at 16×24 or 24×36 in thin black, no mat. It sits well on a white or pale grey wall and pairs with Beardsley's Yellow Book announcement.
Style, size & framing detail
- Style
- Art Nouveau painting
- Era
- 19th century (1894)
- Orientation
- Portrait
- Mood
- decorative, sophisticated
- Rooms
- hallway or entryway, study or library, living room, dining room
- Good gift for
- housewarming, art lovers
Size. We'd hang this one at 16×24. Prints at 12×18, 16×24, 24×36 in — 12×18 for a shelf, desk or a gallery-wall grid; 16×24 above a desk, console or in a hallway; 24×36 as the statement piece above a sofa or bed.
Framing. The gallery ground is part of the print, so frame it without a mat — dark wood flatters the lighter palette; black sharpens it.
Pairing. Pairs as a set of three with other famous painting prints (10% off three or more).
Details & materials
Shipping & returns
Is this the whole painting, or a crop?
Is The Pseudonym and Autonym Libraries in the public domain?
What is it printed on?
When was The Pseudonym and Autonym Libraries painted, and in what medium?
What size works above a sofa or bed?
About this design
The Madten promise
An exhibition poster
The same artwork as a gallery exhibition poster — title, artist & date typeset beneath the image on a soft ground.



























