WILDE, OscarABAA
452 results
1891ref. 69675London: Ward Lock and Co 1891. Full Description: WILDE Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray. London: Ward Lock and Co. 1891. First edition in book form this being the Edition de Luxe limited to 250 copies numbered by hand and signed by Oscar Wilde this being number 52. Royal octavo 8 1/2 x 7 inches; 215 x 180 mm. vii 1 334 pp. Printed on Dutch hand-made paper watermarked Van Gelder. Publisher's quarter parchment over rough grey bevelled boards possibly rebacked retaining the original spine. Front cover with gilt lettering atop a pattern of fifty-five gilt butterflies designed by Charles Ricketts spine lettered in gilt at base top edge gilt rest uncut. Newer endpapers. Previous owner's penciled poem in German to half-title. Some dust-soiling to deckle edges. Some rubbing to bevelled edges. A small slit at the bottom of the front hinge. Overall a very good copy in the publisher's binding. The Picture of Dorian Gray is Oscar Wilde's first novel and was first published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine July 1890. Six new chapters are added to this first appearance in book form with many other additions and variations. On its first appearance this book was violently attacked by the critics and its publication did Wilde a great deal of harm. Mason 329. HBS 69675. $55000. Ward Lock and Co unknown books
1899ref. 140940300London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. Signed Limited First Edition. Near Fine. Signed limited first edition. xii 152 pp. Bound in publisher's original pale lavender cloth with gilt spine lettering and decorations by Charles Shannon. Copy number 82 of 100 large paper copies signed by Oscar Wilde with a flourish. Near Fine with subtle sunning several barely discernible spots to cloth short bubble to rear cloth. Typical offsetting to endpapers and a 5" tear to the rear endpaper. Contents bright and fresh. A beautiful copy. Wilde's masterpiece which opened to wide acclaim at the St. James's Theatre London on February 14 1895. It was withdrawn after 86 performances following his arrest and imprisonment on charges of gross indecency as a consequence of his failed libel suit against Lord Queensbury the father of Wilde's homosexual lover Lord Alfred Douglas. He was outed as gay a disgrace in Victorian society and the play was not published in any form until the present edition following his release from prison. It has been hailed as an exemplary farce called by poet W.H. Auden "a pure verbal opera. Leonard Smithers and Co unknown books
