Note on the edition: Declared to the Printseller's Association on 24th July 1896. 400 artist's proofs on Vellum at 10 guineas, 25 Presentation Proofs, no other state and the plate to be destroyed. 'The Mirror of Venus' was one of eight paintings with which Burne-Jones made a dramatic impact at the first exhibition of the Grosvenor Gallery in 1877. It had been commissioned by the important Pre-Raphaelite patron Frederick Leyland. Burne-Jones was a perfectionist regarding the reproduction of his paintings, and never permitted his works to be copied in the form of steel engravings. He supported the revival of print making on copper plates, and the Polish-born etcher Jasinski was his preferred print maker. Jasinski came to Burne-Jones's notice through his 1892 etching after Botticelli's 'Primavera', a work so fine that each square centimetre reputedly took a day. In 1892 Jasinski's first fine art print after Burne-Jones, 'The Golden Stairs', was published by Arthur Tooth, the first of five superb reproductive etchings after his work. 'Venus' Mirror' drew special praise from the artist, who wrote to Helen Mary Gaskell in May 1896 Jasinski has done the Venus Mirror divinely... (he) is a real artist and I feel proud to think he cares to translate me.(1) 1. Quoted in Hartnoll, op.cit., Burne Jones and his Printmakers by Christopher Newall, page 11.