2-880-259 - Shirley Markham Collection/Heritage Images

Black Coffee, 1895. A rare depiction of same-sex relationships; two women at a cafe table, one has her hand in the other's lap. The hairstyle of the woman on the left resembles devil's horns, hinting at the women's 'sinful' behaviour. Illustration intended for "The Yellow Book", Vol. V, but withdrawn, along with other plates, when publisher John Lane dispensed with Beardley's services as art editor of the magazine in the wake of the Oscar Wilde scandal. From "The Best of Beardsley" edited by R. A. Walker, [The Bodley Head, London, 1948]