Beardsley was commissioned to produce the artwork for this edition of Volpone in November 1897; 24 illustrations including a frontispiece, decorative initials and a front cover design were planned. When this drawing was published in A Book of Fifty Drawings in 1897 conscience may have got the better of the artist and in Pollitt's copy of the edition de luxe Beardsley added the lettering in india ink on the reproduction