Aubrey Beardsley drew this illustration for a murder mystery of the same name in the Tales of Edgar Allen Poe. In the short story, first published in 1843, the narrator relates how he killed his wife, bricked up the body in a wall of their house and fooled the police. But the black cat cried like an infant from behind the wall where it had been inadvertently entombed. When the police dismantled the wall, they found the cat sitting on the head of the corpse.

Beardsley was a young artist and book illustrator who gained notoriety for many of his works and was a leading proponent of what was called the "decadent" movement. His brilliant but controversial work had a strong influence on visual arts and book illustrations for decades.

Beardsley only lived to be 26 but produced major illustrations for literary classics, including Morte d'Arthur.

Medium: 1 print : engraving

Created/Published: Published : Herbert S. Stone Company, Chicago, 1901

Creator : Aubrey Beardsley, artist, 1872-1898

Notes: Illustrated in : Four illustrations for the Tales of Edgar Allan Poe

Housed in the Prints & Photographs Division of the Library of Congress

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Product #: blackcat