A darkly humorous artist's book in the form of a mock guide for young men, drawn from late-19th-century self-help booklets in the Rosenbach Museum & Library's collection.
Following her commission at the Rosenbach Museum & Library for Red Maids, Teresa was invited by the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts at the University of the Arts to create an artist's book rooted in further research in the collection. While Red Maids examined 19th-century British social mores as they applied to women, The Last Favour turned to sources in the collection that addressed the same terrain as it applied to men. The title comes from a phrase in Daniel Defoe's Moll Flanders — a euphemism for sexual intercourse — which Teresa encountered in her research and adopted as the book's dry, knowing frame. She created a small, slender mock guide for young men, its text drawn directly from late-19th-century "self-help" booklets on health, etiquette, and social advancement held in the Rosenbach's collection. With dark humor, the book offers advice on managing sexual desire while protecting one's health and reputation. Framed as a cautionary tale, it charts a reckless slide from innocence to obsession and, ultimately, death — making the "last favour" both a warning and a final concession.
Published by the Rosenbach Museum & Library and the Borowsky Center for Publication Arts, The Last Favour was made possible by grants from the Elizabeth Firestone Graham Foundation and The Leeway Foundation.
