Max Beerbohm's erudite wit and playful conceits represent the pinnacle of the Aesthetic period's capacity to laugh at itself whilst celebrating itself. This book was the author's first, and was presented by him (with tongue lodged firmly in cheek) as a 'collected works', an august memorial to a brilliant career. Included are all seven of his major early essays: Dandies and Dandies on the important distinction between true Regency foppery and its cruder modern notion; A Good Prince portraying the future Edward VIII as an already demanding baby monarch; 1880 and its very recent but already intriguingly faded charms; King George the Fourth rigorously reappraising the Regent; The Pervasion of Rouge celebrating the return of artifice after far too long a naturalcy; Poor Romeo imagining the story behind a laughing-stock of the Regency stage; and Diminuendo charting the author's own course, firstly to disillusion, and then to retirement in outmoded greatness at the age of 23 Though these essays were justly acclaimed in their time, their magnificence is such that they also demand the highest accolades in ours, replete as they are with undiminished colour and spectacle, humour and barbed excellence. MAX BEERBOHM was born in 1872. He attended Merton College in Oxford, but left without completing his degree. He was a regular contributor to magazines (where these essays originally appeared) and a caricaturist of world renown. He married Florence Kahn in 1910. They moved to Rapallo in Italy and stayed there, apart from the period of the two world wars, for the rest of their lives. Knighted in 1939, Sir Max died in 1956.

George Hell is a shallow man, fond of gambling, drinking, and womanizing. Set in his socialite ways, George does whatever it takes to satisfy his desires. However, when cupid strikes George with his arrow, his lavish life is thrown into disarray. Now head over heels for a young dancer named Jenny, George immediately proposes to her, confident that no woman can resist him. But, after Jenny rejects George, claiming that she would only marry a man with the face of a saint, George is forced to reflect on his lifestyle. First, he attempts to buy a solution, going to a shop to buy a mask of a saint's face. Now assuming a new identity of George Heaven, George proposes to Jenny once again, hoping that his new identity will trick Jenny into falling in love with him. When she agrees to marry him, George is delighted that his plan worked, but cannot abandon his charade. Slowly, with the help of Jenny's love, George is able to let go of his vain nature, growing to be a better person. However, as Jenny and George enjoy their new, happy life, George's ex-lover, La Gambogi, resents the sentiment. Determined to prove that George is not the man he says he is, La Gambogi sets out to expose George's true face. Featuring masterful storytelling and themes of redemption, true love, and morality, The Happy Hypocrite by Max Beerbohm is a bright comedy with a valuable message. With complex characters and exemplary prose, Beerbohm's work is clever and entertaining, inspiring laughter and reflection. First published in 1897, The Happy Hypocrite continues to be humorous centuries later, appealing to the wit of modern readers. This edition of The Happy Hypocrite by Max Beerbohm features an eye-catching new cover design and is printed in a font that is both modern and readable. With these accommodations, The Happy Hypocrite caters to a contemporary audience while preserving the original levity of Beerbohm's work.

From its magnificent first sentence, "None, it is said, of all who revelled with the Regent, was half so wicked as Lord George Hell..." The Happy Hypocrite exerts a hypnotizing charm. Sir Max Beerbohm's 'fairy tale for tired men' is one of the pinnacles of 1890s chic and elegance. His famously rich style, laced with equal parts of tenderness and severity, serves up a story of love, and, more importantly, what we will do for it. George Hell's life as a Regency buck is turned upside down when Jenny Mere, a dancer, arrives in his life. It only remains for him to live up to the pure expectations of this lowly girl. Will he succeed, or will his old wicked habits die hard? Will the world let him forget them? He decides that certain extraordinary measures are necessary to achieve this lofty aim, but never guesses just how much power his love has - and is miraculously transformed. First published in Volume XI of the legendary Yellow Book in 1896, this beautiful fable crowned Beerbohm's reputation as a weaver of glorious fabrics of prose. This edition reproduces George Sheringham's splendid illustrations, first seen in the edition of 1915. Born in 1872, Max Beerbohm was a regular contributor to magazines, a playwright, a novelist and, crucially, an essayist and caricaturist. He married Florence Kahn in 1910; they moved to Rapallo in Italy and stayed there, apart from the periods of the two world wars, for the rest of their lives. Knighted in 1939, Sir Max died in 1956.