Art Nouveau illustrator and author, major works:
Le Morte d'Arthur,
Salome,
Lysistrata. Wrote "Ballad of a Barber", "Under the Hill: or the Story of Venus and
Tannhauser" Lived from 1872-1898. Died of
tuberculosis, from which he suffered throughout his life. Delicately handsome in a
David Bowie mode, his polished manner and lively disposition made him a popular figure in
London society, and well-remembered even after his death.
Under the Hill, which was left unfinished, has a curious quality of things not said, and it's been surmised that he incorporated Buddhist ideas into this medieval legend. Died at Menton, in France near the Italian border, clutching a rosary, after writing a letter begging his publisher to burn all his pornographic output.
The publisher forged copies of this letter and sold them at a handsome profit.