From the Pall Mall Gazette: “A ‘Pageant,’ and How it is Made.” Rev. of The Pageant, vol. 1

A hansom went sailing out into the west,
Into the west as the sun went down –

And I thought of the distance to Ravenscourt Park, and hailed it. “The editor of the Pageant,” I said simply. But the driver appeared not to have heard of the publication, and demanded further particulars, which resulted in my being deposited eventually at the house of the personage in question.

Mr. Gleeson White, to whom I was recommended for information about the Pageant, used to edit the Studio, and now performs, among other useful functions, that of supplying half the little underhand jokes of London. I suspect him of “uncleanliness is next to Bodley-ness,” but he would not admit it: and I caught him red handed in a neat thing about German bands which I mean to use myself.

“But concerning the Pageant,” I began, interrupting a homily on Japanese prints and the general futility of life, “what are its aims, and whom does it seek to elevate?”

“I believe it is under contract not to elevate anybody; and as for its aims, it is an end in itself. You might say—but no, I forgot, you mustn’t say that. Nor this—though I tell you privately. . . . Perhaps you might say that it represents the survival of the pre-Raphaelite idea in art and literature, though even that definition would probably offend somebody.”

“Try another one.”—“Well, it is intended as a triumph of the romantic, and a protest against the realistic school. From this point of view it will be welcomed on the Continent, probably, more warmly than in England, for it represents the work that England is known by abroad. Yet the art is essentially English, and so for the most part is the literature. Millais, Watts, Whistler, Rossetti, and Burne-Jones—these are the men of the older school who are represented; and among the younger ones are Ricketts and Charles Shannon, Rothenstein, and Savage. The literary side is tremendously strong for a new venture of this kind, and shows a really warm appreciation of its efforts. Swinburne has contributed a Roundel of Rabelais, which, taken in conjunction with Rothenstein’s fine portrait sketch of him, done specially for this purpose, may serve to mark the sympathy he has always felt for the pre-Raphaelite movement. Maurice Maeterlinck has sent us a poem, and also a play (the ‘Death of Tintagiles’) never before translated into English. Our other poets are Henley, Michael Field, Theodore Watts, Robert Bridges, and Paul Verlaine. With Henley, Swinburne, and Bridges we thought we were sure of a laureate—but that is another thing you mustn’t say.”

“Will it be all poetry and pictures?”—“No; W. B. Yeats has contributed a capital story, Max Beerbohm has written an amusing sketch, there are other good stories by John Gray and Lionel Johnson, and a fair amount of critical and interesting literature besides.”

“One hears that it is to be a sort of Yellow Book— ”—“Not in the very least. If anything, it recalls the scope and purpose of the Germ. But while the Germ artists seem to have suffered much at the hands of their illustrators, those whose work appears here have distinct reason to congratulate themselves. The reproductions are simply a miracle of excellence, and I am perfectly certain that no such illustrations have ever been seen in an English work of this kind before. The Whistler and one or two others are marvellous.”

“Were they done abroad?”—“No, all (except a line drawing or two) by the Swan Electric Engraving Company, of Charing Cross-road. The large-paper edition will contain a photogravure from a drawing of Ricketts belonging to Sir Frederic Leighton, done by the same people. It is an extremely fine thing, worthy to rank, in my opinion, beside the ‘Melancholia’ of Dürer.”

“Whose idea was the Pageant?”—“It originated with the publishers, Henry and Co., who have given us practically carte blanche in the matter of expense; but Shannon is responsible for all the working out of the idea, and I can only say that it has been done with the utmost thoroughness and forethought. There is nothing whatever meretricious, or French, or problematic, or improper in the Pageant. It is a serious artistic conception, and to artists, in the first place, it will appeal. So far as the public are concerned, it is a long way the best thing of the kind that has ever been offered to them, and the price is ridiculously small. That, I think, is the only mistake that has been made. They will never appreciate how much is being given to them.”

“And do you believe that it will succeed from the point of view of the pre-Raphaelite idea?”—“Well, I am not sure. As the poet says—

There lies more doubt in honest faith,
Believe me, than in half the creeds.

And yet, with the strong feeling which is growing up in Belgium and Holland, and the periodic wave of sympathy which spreads over Paris, I cannot help thinking that the idea is fairly deep-rooted.”

“What is the meaning of the title you have chosen?”—“What you please. It is strictly original—or would be, if someone had not used it before.”

And as I ran my eye along a bookshelf two hours later, and caught sight of Christina Rossetti’s two demure little volumes I realized that it was so.