BEARDSLEY (AUBREY) Autograph letter signed ('Aubrey Beardsley') to the Rev. David Bearne, statin...

BEARDSLEY (AUBREY) Autograph letter signed ('Aubrey Beardsley') to the Rev. David Bearne, stating that '...I should be very grateful if you could spare me a few moments to-morrow...', one page, on grey paper, old light fold, 8vo, Muriel, Exeter Rd, Bournemouth, [undated, but between February, and early April 1897] Footnotes: 'I SHOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL IF YOU COULD SPARE ME A FEW MOMENTS': Beardsley requests a visit from Father David Bearne, the man who received him into the Catholic Church, giving him his first communion on 31 March 1897, and taking him the Sacraments a couple of days later at Muriel, the house at which he was living in Bournemouth. Searching for a climate that would be beneficial to his tubercular lungs Beardsley moved to Muriel, a guest house, in January 1897. In early February he was visited by his patron Marc-Andre Raffalovich, a Catholic convert, who encouraged Beardsley to seek out Father Bearne, the priest at the local Catholic Church of the Sacred Heart. The first meeting took place on 23 February, Beardsley writing to Raffalovich shortly after that Bearne 'was most charming and promised to come to see me often. I felt much drawn to him and I believe he will be a good friend to me'. Beardsley's biographer Matthew Sturgis, writing in March 1998 to the current owner, comments on our letter showing that, 'after the initial introduction, Beardsley actively sought out Fr. Bearne and desired his company; he was not - as is often suggested - the passive and enfeebled victim of some Catholic conspiracy instigated by Raffalovich'. The most likely date of the letter is late February, and certainly before Beardsley left Muriel for Paris in April 1897. No letters to Bearne are included in The Letters, edited by by Henry Maas, 1970. For further information on this lot please visit Bonhams.com For further information about this lot please visit the lot listing