J-oshua Handley was a minor artist who made a living by producing a seemingly endless stream of engravings for the publishers of erotic literature, an occupation which demanded some nerve as one could at any time be arrested on charges of obscenity. Most of Handley's illustrations have disappeared into oblivion along with the literature which they illustrated, but can still be encountered upon occasion in histories of Victorian erotica and the like. Most such illustrations were unsigned for obvious reasons, but it is said that Handley's vivid style is distinctive and easily recognised.
http://www.heliograph-designs.co.uk/victoriana/ceph/index.html
Handley had discovered the great obsession which was to dominate the rest of his life. While in Japan he purchased and commissioned a great number of similar works by Japanese artists, much to the puzzlement of his companion, Sir Neville Thripp who, though non-judgmental of others' quirks, nevertheless found Handley's new-found interest thoroughly baffling.
CEPHALOPODS IN CINEMA
