6 315 résultats
1952réf. 53361Paris: Falaize 1952. Fine. Falaize Paris 1952 11.50 x 17.50 cm broché La Ballade de la geôle de Reading. L'Artiste en prison The Ballad of Reading GaolFalaize Paris 1952 11.5 x 17.5 cm original wrappers New edition of the French translation by Jacques Bour and the first edition of Albert Camus' famous preface. One of 50 numbered copies on Madagascar paper tirage de tête. A fine autograph inscription from Albert Camus: à Michel Simon grand artiste avec les voeux chaleureux d'un de ses vieux admirateurs For Michel Simon a great artist with warmest wishes from an old fan and an autograph inscription from the translator Jacques Bour: à Michel Simon qui ferait crouler tous les murs! For Michel Simon who raised all the roofs! A rare and very good copy. Falaize unknown
réf. 7545013 volumes by Methuen and Co. London and Charles Carrington Paris for 'The Picture of Dorian Gray' 1908. Literature FIRST COLLECTED EDITION limited to 1000 sets on hand made paper. Fourteen volumes octavo 22 x 16 x 54cm. Handsomely bound in half mid-green oasis morocco spines in six compartments with five raised bands gilt titles to russet leather labels gilt decoration matching buckram sides top edges gilt others untrimmed. Internally clean and fresh exteriors as new. A superb set in an attractive recent leather binding. This first ever collected edition of Wilde also contains some de facto first editions. Mason 420-448a. 13 volumes by Methuen and Co., London, and Charles Carrington, Paris, for 'The Picture of Dorian Gray', 1908 unknown
1894réf. 001874London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane at The Sign of The Bodley Head 1894 1894. FIRST EDITION. 1 vol. 8-1/2" x 7" illustrated by Charles Rickets limited to 200 copies printed in 3 colors bound in original art nouveau gilt decorated vellum covers straight often found quite bowed inner and outer hinges fine head and foot of spine fine foxing to one side of the first 8 leaves typical previous owners bookplate to front pastedown housed in a 1/2 red morocco clamshell slipcase raised bands gilt decorated spine overall still a VERY GOOD copy. Charles Ricketts's art nouveau illustrations were described by W. E. Henley Wilde's harshest critic as "about as fin-de-Siecle a business as you ever saw" Frankel p. 155. Ricketts considered the designs for the illustrations and for the original vellum binding amongst his best work. While predominantly working with book illustration and design Ricketts was also famed for his theater designs and costumes and he contributed to the first English production of Wilde's Salome in 1906. London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane at The Sign of The Bodley Head, 1894 hardcover
1894réf. 22666ELondon: Elkin Mathews & John Lane 1894. First English Edition. Limited to 500 copies. Illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. Original gilt-stamped blue cloth. Near fine only slightly handled copy with the gilt-stamping to the boards bright. From the library of Harpo Marx the great clown of the Marx Brothers comedy team and his wife actress Susan Fleming Marx former member of the Ziegfeld Follies and star of early talking films like Million Dollar Legs with W.C. Fields. With a charming bookplate illustrated by Susan Marx with a drawing of Harpo in his comic character which reads: “FROM THE LIBRARY OF HARPO & SUSAN MARX”. Elkin Mathews & John Lane hardcover
1894réf. 188707London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane 1894. Deluxe issue of this sublime collaboration of enfants terribles First edition in English and first Beardsley edition deluxe issue one of 100 copies printed on Japanese vellum and bound in green silk boards. "If Le Morte Darthur made Beardsley known his designs for the first edition in English of Wilde's Salomé made him notorious and it remains the book of which most people think when his name is mentioned" Ray. Translated by Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas this edition appeared the year after the play's publication in French. The premiere took place on 11 February 1896 at the Comédie-Parisienne. To restrict its public staging in Britain the Lord Chamberlain cited Protestant Reformation laws banning religious plays. An opera version was sanctioned for performance in 1910 though the play itself had to be staged privately until the first public performance at the Savoy Theatre in 1931. A further 500 copies were printed on smaller paper and bound in blue canvas boards. Small quarto. Frontispiece and illustrated title page with tissue guard illustrated border on list of illustrations page 9 plates final tailpiece all by Beardsley. Publisher's 16-page advertisements at end. Original green silk boards spine lettered in gilt decorations designed by Beardsley to covers in gilt edges untrimmed. Binding unevenly discoloured and a little soiled minor wear to edges inner hinge partially split following title page splash mark to a couple lower margins. A very good copy. Mason 351; Ray 315A. hardcover
1894réf. 001392London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane 1894. 44p including blanks original gilt decorated vellum designed by Charles Ricketts with his monogram to bottom left hand corner of upper cover and the monogram of the binders Leighton Son and Hodge to the bottom left hand corner of the lower cover. Corners slightly bumped and rubbed vellum generally quite bright and clean. Internally some light browning to page edges some light foxing to several pages as often but generally fairly clean. Small booksellers label and previous owners book plate to front paste down. Printed in three colours throughout. Stated one of two hundred copies for the UK with another fifty printed for the US and twenty-five large paper copies and possibly a few more. Now housed in a cloth drop back box by Temple Bookbinders. Holbrook Jackson called 'The Sphinx' "'the most remarkable of the books of this period' because it translated the Wildean temperament into physical form . Ricketts created a parallel system of symbols evoking the mystery and erotic sensuality the Aesthetes often associated with Egypt" Thomson 'Aesthetic Tracts - Innovation in Late-Nineteenth-Century Book Design' page 75. Mason 361. First Edition. Full Vellum. Good. Illus. by Ricketts Charles. 8vo. Elkin Mathews and John Lane Hardcover
1907réf. 187979London: Keller-Farmer Co. 1907. It lies like a leper in purple it sits like a dead thing smeared with gold The Uniform Edition the illustrated Edition De Luxe issue number 152 of 200 sets this one in unusual vibrant purple bindings. This is the most limited issue of this very early collected edition of Wilde's works. 15 vols octavo 165 x 140 mm. Frontispieces with tissue guards captioned in red plates throughout illustrated title pages letterpress title pages printed in red and black. Contemporary purple crushed morocco spines lettered in gilt compartments tooled with central tool in gilt purple cloth sides and endpapers top edges gilt fore and bottom edges uncut. Bindings bright rubbing sometime retouched with iridescent polish slight loss to corner of Salome hinge cracked but holding at p. 12 of Epigrams very mild occasional foxing. A near-fine set. hardcover
réf. 122321London David Nutt 1888. . First edition one of 1000 copies; large 8vo 230 x 175 mm; half-title tissue-guarded frontispiece and 2 plates by Walter Crane decorative head and tail-pieces occasional spotting heaviest to half-title short closed tear to front free endpaper small loss to upper margin of p. 51 not affecting text auctioneers slips from 1976 loosely inserted; publisher's Japanese vellum boards spine lettered in black and lightly rubbed upper cover printed in red and black with illustration by Jacomb Hood boards toned a few small marks on lower cover corners gently bumped a very good-plus copy that presents well; preserved in a later chemise and green morocco-backed slipcase; x 116 2pp. A particularly good copy of the first appearance of five of Wilde's classic fairy tales for children comprising: The Happy Prince The Nightingale and the Rose The Selfish Giant The Devoted Friend and The Remarkable Rocket. Mason 313. London, David Nutt, 1888. hardcover
1894réf. 256986London: John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head in Vigo Street 1894. First edition one of 50 Large Paper copies. 154 1 pp. Printed by T. and A. Constable Edinburgh. 1 vols. 4to. Original buckram gilt. Spine and extremities darkened endleaves with some paste darkening else fine in a custom purple half-morocco slipcase and chemise. First edition one of 50 Large Paper copies. 154 1 pp. Printed by T. and A. Constable Edinburgh. 1 vols. 4to. An attractive large paper copy. Wilde's witty and urbane satire of the English upper class. This was written and produced in 1893 near the height of Wilde's career between Salome 1891 and his masterpiece The Importance of Being Ernest 1895. Mason 365. Provenance: Arthur Chester Rhodes John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head in Vigo Street unknown
1907réf. 67715London: A. R. Keller & Co 1907. The Writings of Oscar Wilde. Illustrated. London: A. R. Keller & Co. 1907. Edition de Luxe of the Uniform Edition. One of 200 numbered copies of which this is number 14. Complete in fifteen octavo volumes. Measures 7 1/4 x 5 in. Illustrated in black and white with plates in two states each with a descriptive tissue guard. Title and limitation pages on Japanese vellum printed in black and red with additional engraved title pages in each volume. Finely bound in modern full green levant morocco. Spines tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments with a red morocco gilt floral inlay four raised bands all edges gilt marbled endpapers. A fine set. This very early edition precedes the 1908 Ross edition of Wilde's works often described as the first collected edition. HBS 67715. $11500. A. R. Keller & Co unknown
1908réf. 194545London: Methuen and Co. except Dorian Gray: Charles Carrington Paris 1908. A finely bound set of the first collection of his works First collected edition one of 1000 sets on handmade paper edited by Wilde's most constant friend and literary executor Robert Ross 1869-1918. It prints previously unpublished material including the uncompleted play A Florentine Tragedy a fragment of another La Sainte Courtisane and various lectures. 14 vols octavo 210 x 147 mm. Near-contemporary blue morocco spines with raised bands milled in gilt compartments lettered and elaborately tooled in gilt boards decoratively panelled in gilt board edges and turn-ins in gilt gilt doublures white watered silk free endpapers top edges gilt others untrimmed white silk bookmarkers. Spines sunned light rubbing retouched with colour presenting attractively variable foxing to contents couple of bookmarkers fraying. A very good set. Mason 420 423 425 427 429 431 433 435 437 439 441 443 445 447. hardcover
1894réf. 329742London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane 1894. Limited. hardcover. fine. Ricketts Charles. Title page design and nine illustrations eight full page by Charles Ricketts. Printed throughout in black red & green all edges untrimmed. Thin small 4to full vellum with pictorial decorations in gilt to the spine & covers by Ricketts. 2 bookplates. London: Elkin Matthews & John Lane 1894. Limited edition. One of 200 unnumbered copies. An exceptionally fine copy unfoxed and with a clean binding Elkin Mathews & John Lane unknown
1893réf. 6451London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane 1893. First edition. One of 50 large-paper copies on hand-made paper. A Fine copy. Quarto 8 5/8 x 6 5/8 inches; 220 x 169 mm. i blank i limitation iii-xvi 132 pp. Handsomely bound by Zaehnsdorf ca. 1897 stamp-signed in gilt on front turn-in and with their exhibition stamp in black on rear paste-down. Full dark green crushed levant morocco covers bordered in gilt enclosing a six-line gilt border. Spine with five raised bands decoratively framed and lettered in gilt in compartments gilt-ruled board edges multi gilt-lined turn-ins top edge gilt others uncut. With the bookplates of the renowned collector C. S. Ascherson dated 1897 and Paul Louis Weiller also a famous book collector and a great friend of J. Paul Getty on front paste-down. Housed in a felt-lined dark green cloth clamshell case spine with leather label lettered in gilt. A couple of tiny and unobtrusive minor stains on blank borders otherwise a clean copy in a wonderful and early if somewhat austere binding by the great firm of Zaehnsdorf. Oscar Wilde's Lady Windermere's Fan A Play About a Good Woman was his "first successful dramatic production" and one of his many masterpieces Mendelssohn. His talent for astute adaptations of traditional comedic tropes like the long-lost child or mistaken motivations are utilized to full effect in this narrative. The four-act comedy was infamously first performed on 20 February 1892. In addition to pulling on popular stars to perform Wilde had the young men of his entourage arrive at the premier wearing green carnations in their buttonholes-something that scandalized attendees when in a metatheatrical moment one of the characters onstage appeared with one as well referencing its cost and symbolism for decadent immorality. Prim attendees were in fact surrounded by a generation of young men devoted to such aesthetic ideals and wearing the same flower. Mason 358. Elkin Mathews and John Lane unknown
réf. 119720London John Lane 1894. . First edition one of 50 large paper copies; 4to; printed on hand-made paper contemporary ownership inscription to limitation endpapers browned; publisher's straw coloured buckram with gilt decorations by Charles Ricketts gilt lettering to spine spine browned a couple of trivial marks to covers else very good plus; housed in custom purple cloth chemise and matching quarter morocco slip-case. One of only 50 large paper copies. This play contains some of Wilde's most famous epigrams. First performed in April 1893 prior to being published in book form A Woman of No Importance addresses many social issues with Wilde's wit and dark humour. The run of the play was cut short as a result of Wilde's arrest and prosecution. The scandal dampened enthusiasm for Wilde's work until after his death in 1900 when interest in his work began to revive. Mason 402. London, John Lane, 1894. hardcover
1905réf. 21107London/Paris: Methuen 1905. A first edition first printing of 'De Profundis' by Oscar Wilde published posthumously in 1905 by Methuen. A near fine book a little spotted to the page edges - A little rubbed to the spine tips and corners but a sharp lovely example. Accompanied by a silver cigarette holder embossed with foliate scrolls and a vacant shield cartouche hallmarked Birmingham 1894 with the maker's mark that of Frederick Wald. A beautiful amber ending which pulls in and out. Purchased in Paris from the family of the proprietor of the Hotel d'Alsace Jean Dupoirer sometime before 1914. From the colllection of David Adamson a mining engineer and great-grandfather of the original seller at Bonhams Knightsbridge 1997 who had a life-long admiration for Wilde's work. The renowned Irish playwright and poet died on November 30 1900 at the Hotel d'Alsace in Paris now L'Hôtel. After serving two years of hard labor for "gross indecency" due to his homosexuality Wilde fled to France impoverished and shunned by society. Living under the name Sebastian Melmoth he took up residence at the modest hotel. His health declined rapidly due to meningitis complications from an earlier ear infection. Wilde reportedly quipped on his deathbed "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go." He passed away destitute but surrounded by a few loyal friends. Wilde was initially buried in a pauper's grave at Bagneux Cemetery but his remains were later moved to Père Lachaise Cemetery where his tomb adorned with a modernist angel now draws admirers from around the world. His wit and tragedy remain enduring symbols of artistic genius and societal hypocrisy. A unique item now housed in a custom made box Methuen unknown
réf. 116713London Elkin Mathews and John Lane 1893. . First edition one of 50 large paper copies; small 4to 203 x 180 mm; ownership signature to limitation page some browning to endpapers; publisher's straw coloured buckram with gilt decorations by Charles Ricketts gilt lettering to spine spine browned very slight wear at head and foot of spine; a near-fine copy housed in custom purple cloth chemise and matching quarter morocco slip-case. One of 50 large paper copies of Wilde's four-act comedy first performed on Saturday 20 February 1892 at the St James's Theatre in London. Like many of Wilde's plays it is a biting satire of the morals of Society. Mason 358. London, Elkin Mathews and John Lane, 1893. hardcover
1906réf. 1843Düsseldorf: Schmitz & Olbertz 1906. First German edition. Numbered one of 600 copies. In unique custom made hand-painted vellum binding by Lajos Kozma. Title on spine in gilt lettering. Upper edge gilt. Paste paper endpapers. Kozma’s signet on front flyleaf’s verso and another signet supposedly of the owner: “CHW” on the additional flyleaf drawn by Kozma in black ink. Binding with slight discolorations and light stains. Inside some light and scattered foxing. Overall in fine condition. First German edition. Numbered one of 600 copies. In unique custom made hand-painted vellum binding by Lajos Kozma. Title on spine in gilt lettering. Upper edge gilt. Paste paper endpapers. Kozma’s signet on front flyleaf’s verso and another signet supposedly of the owner: “CHW” on the additional flyleaf drawn by Kozma in black ink. 44 4 p. The first German edition of The Priest and the Acolyte in Lajos Kozma’s Unique Hand-Painted Art Nouveau binding. Lajos Ludwig Kozma 1884–1948 was one of the chief Hungarian architects and interior designers of the first half of the 20th century he is also known for his graphic designs and book illustrations and binding designs. His early works were created in Art Nouveau style but later through Art Deco he found his way to International Modernism. The scandalous story of The Priest and the Acolyte here in A. W. Hiller’s translation is attributed to Oscar Wilde however its real author was John Francis Bloxam 1873–1928 an English Uranian author and churchman. The novel appeared first in The Chameleon Vol. I No. 1 December 1894. . Schmitz & Olbertz unknown
1894réf. 151353London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane 1894. In the original vellum decorated by Charles Ricketts First edition one of 200 unnumbered copies. Wilde's poem together with Charles Ricketts's art nouveau illustrations was described by W. E. Henley Wilde's harshest critic as "about as fin-de-Siecle a business as you ever saw" Frankel p. 155. Wilde first met Ricketts in 1889 and in the two years that followed the artist designed either parts or the entirety of several of Wilde's works. Now celebrated for his book illustration and design Ricketts is also noted for his theatre designs and costumes and he contributed to the first English production of Wilde's Salomé in 1906. James G. Nelson records that alongside the 200 copies published in the limited edition a further 103 copies were printed though most of these were left unbound. Small quarto. Title page design one half-page illustration and eight full-page illustrations by Charles Ricketts. Original full vellum pictorial decorations by Ricketts to spine and covers in gilt all edges untrimmed printed throughout in black green and red. Ownership signature to front free endpaper and ownership inscription to preliminary blank. Vellum lightly soiled as usual and some occasional internal foxing; a fresh and very good copy with bright gilt to the covers. Nicholas Frankel Oscar Wilde's Decorated Books 2003; Mason 361; James G. Nelson A Checklist of Early Bodley Head Books: 1889-1894. hardcover
1898réf. 181391Paris: Société du Mercure de France 1898. Inscribed to a literary batailleur First edition in French number 1 of 12 copies on Holland paper inscribed by the author on the justification de tirage page: "a mon ami Robert Scheffer Oscar Wilde". Signed or inscribed copies of this edition are rare: we trace only two others in auction records. A French poet and short story writer Scheffer 1864-1926 is best remembered for his "contes rapides" or "quick tales" and for his combative style both as a literary critic and as a duellist. He took Wilde to the Folies Bergère on 10 May 1898 and presented him with a copy of his poetry collection La Chanson de Néos affectionately inscribed to the "grand poète". In 1909 Scheffer edited the short-lived gay magazine Akademos. Wilde wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol while exiled in France and originally published the work in Britain earlier the same year under the pseudonym "C.3.3." the number of his cell. He took a particular interest in this edition discussing the format type binding and other details with his translator Henry-David Davray 1873-1944. Wilde was intimately involved in the translation and Davray remembered how "Every word was weighed every term was discussed every sentence was read reread scanned with all possible intonations". Provenance: Samuel Pozzi 1846-1918 the French surgeon and pioneer gynecologist and subject of a portrait by John Singer Sargent with his bookplate. Octavo 183 x 121 mm. Text printed in French and English. Contemporary three-quarter green waxed paper spine lettered and ruled in gilt marbled sides and endpapers top edge red others untrimmed original wrappers bound in red and yellow silk bookmarker. Superficial split and small abrasion to front joint contents toned but clean. A very good copy. Not in Mason. unknown
1898réf. 181423London: Leonard Smithers 1898. The rare deluxe issue elegantly bound First edition number 17 of 30 copies printed on japon presented here in a restrained contemporary morocco binding. The limitation is handwritten in purple ink by Leonard Smithers. A further 800 copies on handmade paper were published simultaneously. Wilde wrote the poem while exiled in France and published it under the pseudonym "C.3.3." after his cell in Reading Gaol the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C. The first edition sold out rapidly and a second edition was issued within weeks. Octavo 220 x 145 mm. Contemporary purple morocco spine lettered and decorated with leaf tools in gilt "W" monogram enclosed in laurel wreath to front cover in gilt blind rules to covers turn-ins gilt original vellum spine bound in at rear. Housed in a purple flat-back cloth box by the Chelsea Bindery. Book label of J. O. Edwards to front free endpaper. Joints repaired a handsome copy. Mason 372. hardcover
1982réf. ST16482Bayreuth: Printed by Chr. Scheufele Offizin Stuttgart for Bear Press 1982. No. 1 OF 10 COPIES ON VELLUM plus a "special" edition of 25 copies and 185 copies on Kochi Japanese paper. 223 x 148 mm. 8 7/8 x 5 3/4". 50 pp. 2 leaves.Translated and with an afterword by Wolfram Benda. Publisher's fine burgundy morocco by Erwin Lehr upper cover with gilt rose in recessed square flat spine with gilt titling turn-ins with gilt fillet frame pale yellow silk pastedowns. In the original burgundy suede slipcase. With three large initials in burnished gold and four signed and numbered original etchings by Peter Klitsch. Printed in red and black. Signed in the colophon by the artist the binder and the publisher/translator. In mint condition. This is the splendid deluxe version of a finely crafted private press edition of Wilde's fairy tales "The Nightingale and the Rose" "The Happy Prince" and "The Selfish Giant." It is the third work issued by the Bear Press founded in 1979 by literary scholar Wolfram Benda and still in operation. According to the firm's website "at a time when the craftsmanship and ethos of the artisan in bookmaking have been damaged by ever-increasing industrialization and neglect . . . The Bear Press . . . tries to achieve the highest possible degree of technical and artistic perfection in its printed works." The font used to print the text and the artist chosen to illustrate each work are carefully selected to express "the individual author's personality and intention." Even the discriminating aesthete Wilde 1854-1900 would be pleased with the choices here especially for the luxurious vellum printing: the type is set in refined Walbaum Antiqua and shown off with special effect by the creamy leaves; the etchings by Austrian artist Peter Klitsch b. 1934 are meticulous detailed and reminiscent of the work of Wilde's friend Aubrey Beardsley; and the binding is the epitome of tasteful restraint flawlessly executed with premium materials. The three tales here first appeared in 1888 and are bittersweet in their themes of love and self-sacrifice. His stories for children were one of Wilde's early successes and DNB notes "Their permanent place in child affections refutes the vulgarism that Wilde's literary reputation arose from his legal notoriety. In all cases the fairy tales are on the child's side celebrating the courage and generosity of the poor and vulnerable while their satire mocks the kind of pomposity and hypocrisy children can recognize." We have been able to trace just two other copies of the vellum printing at auction in ABPC and RBH. [Printed by Chr. Scheufele Offizin, Stuttgart, for] Bear Press unknown
1892réf. 180628London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane 1892. My life is a twice-written scroll Signed limited edition number 195 of 220 copies numbered and signed by the author. Poems was first published in 1881. This is Mason's "author's edition" a reissue of the fifth edition substituting the first two prelims with a new half-title and limitation leaf and a conjugate title leaf all designed by Charles Ricketts. The volume was the first issued by the new partnership of Elkin Mathews and John Lane. Octavo. Original pale pink cloth spine and covers lettered and elaborated decorated with prunus blossom designs in gilt pale purple decorated endpapers all after designs by Charles Ricketts top edge gilt others untrimmed. Bookplates of Alfred Sutro the artist and architect George A. Crawley and the abbot's library at St Benedict's Fort Augustus. Minor restoration to spine ends supplying half a dozen letters minor foxing to cloth front free endpaper reinserted. A very good copy. Mason 309. hardcover
1700réf. 103081Amsterdam Maria de Wilde 1700. 4to. 1 1 blank 11 1 blank pp. and 60 numbered engraved plates. = engraved title-page an engraved vignette depicting "virtute" signed "A. Schoonebeek fec." 1 large folding plate showing the interior of "Museum Wildianum" a full-page engraved portrait of Maria de Wilde signed "P. v.d. Berge ad vivum del. et fecit." decorated initials in the text and 60 numbered engraved plates by Maria de Wilde. Contemporary blind-stamped vellum sewn on 4 supports and laced through the joints with the manuscript title and author at the head of the spine red and blue sprinkled edges. With the green and white bookplate of "Collectie Buijnsters-Smets" on the inside of the front board and with the black and white bookplate of "A. Pitlo. Plus est en vous" on the verso of the now loose front paste-down. The binding is slightly browned and the paste-downs have come loose revealing the sowing supports. Internally fine and clean. Overall in very good condition. First and only edition of an attractive display of the statues of the Museum Wildeanum once housed on the Keizersgracht in Amsterdam. The Dutch tax collector Jacob de Wilde 1645-1721 began the collection containing gems coins scientific instruments and statues. "This attractive account of a Dutch cabinet of the late seventeenth century is as much a eulogy of Maria de Wilde's gifts as an engraver as of her father's museum" Grinke. The 60 plates by Maria de Wilde 1682-1729 show the ancient Egyptian Greek and Roman statues in the museum including Egyptian figures of Isis Horus etc. some of which are now believed to be Renaissance copies of antique originals. The 6 text leaves include a brief introduction and several laudatory poems directed at Maria de Wilde and her engravings. The collection drew some important visitors including the Russian tsar Peter the Great in 1697. His visit is illustrated on the engraved folding plate where he can be identified by the double-headed eagle at his feet an element of the Russian coat of arms sitting in the museum at a table accompanied by Jacob. After De Wilde's death the collection probably dispersed. The tsar acquired part of it for his "Kunstkamera" the first museum in Russia which was completed in 1727. A catalogue of the gems and coins of the museum was published in 1703 entitled Gemmae selectae antiquae e museo Jacobi de Wilde. From the library of the Dutch professor of civil and notarial law Adriaan Pitlo 1901-1987 and from the collection of Dutch book historian and professor of Dutch literature linguistics and book history Piet J. Buijnsters 1933-2022 and his wife the art historian Leontine M.A. Buijnsters-Smets 1937-2021. A beautiful copy of an art historical work showing a late 17th-century Dutch cabinet with a notable provenance. c.f. Grinke 61; Murray I p. 38 & III p. 272; STCN 842380264; Tavernier Russia and the Low Countries: an international bibliography 3178. Maria de Wilde
1899réf. 16085London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. First edition signed limited edition. Octavo original lavender publisher's cloth. One of 100 large paper copies signed by Oscar Wilde. In very good condition with some light rubbing and darkening to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco clamshell box. Wilde’s play premiered in January 1895 to an audience that included the Prince of Wales and was an immediate success. Together with The Importance of Being Earnest An Ideal Husband is often considered Wilde's dramatic masterpiece. After Earnest it is his most popularly produced play. It has been adapted to film several times first in 1935 most recently in 1999 starring Julianne Moore Minnie Driver Cate Blanchett and Rupert Everett. Mason 385. Leonard Smithers and Co hardcover
1893réf. ST20128Paris and London: Librairie de l'Art Indépendant; Elkin Mathews et John Lane 1893. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 600 COPIES 500 of which were for sale. 243 x 150 mm. 8 x 5 5/8". 84 pp. 1 leaf. Pleasing red very coarse-grained morocco by Sangorski & Sutcliffe stamp-signed in gilt on rear turn-in covers with gilt coat of arms surrounded by a gilt oval raised bands gilt lettering gilt-ruled turn-ins top edge gilt others untrimmed. With the original purple wrappers bound in. Housed in a deluxe suede-lined modern red morocco case by Antonio Perez-Noriega covers with elaborate twining wood onlays. A PRESENTATION COPY FROM WILDE TO ADOLPHE RETTÉ WITH WILDE'S INSCRIPTION AND SIGNATURE ON THE FRONT FLYLEAF. Mason 348. See also: Mikhail "Oscar Wilde: Interviews and Recollections" pp. 190-91. Spine faintly sunned covers with a few small bumps and dents perhaps original with the skin or intentionally made by the binder one or two negligible finger smudges but a fine clean copy with just insignificant imperfections. This is a very special presentation copy of Wilde's most controversial play inscribed to one of three writers the author invited to edit the original French script. In the Gospel of Luke Herodias the haughty wife of Antipas tetrarch of Galilee is so incensed by the preaching of John the Baptist against her sins that she determines to be revenged. She persuades her daughter Salomé to ask Antipas the girl's stepfather for John's head as the reward for her seductive dancing. Wilde's fertile imagination converts this story into a tale of juvenile infatuation scorned and turned into demented hate. Written and first published in French "Salomé" was to have been staged in London with Sarah Bernhardt in the title role but this was prevented by the Lord Chamberlain the theater censor. Thus the play was first performed in 1896 in Paris with Bernhardt in the title role but without Wilde in attendance since he was confined at the time in Reading Gaol. It was not performed in London until 1905 in a private performance and the censor's ban was not lifted until 1932. Adolphe Retté 1863-1930 was a French poet essayist and literary figure who initially was celebrated for his decadent and symbolist poetry but later experienced a profound spiritual awakening that led him to renounce his earlier works and embrace Catholicism. He was one of three French-speaking poets along with Stuart Merrill and Pierre Louÿs Wilde solicited to look over the original script and correct any overt anglicisms. Retté who had met Wilde in Paris wrote about his involvement with "Salomé" in his memoir where he describes his admiration for the work: "Not only were Wilde's ideas subtle and delightful but he knew how to enhance them seeming to caress each word with his irresistible way of speaking." Retté marveled at Wilde's "talent as a conversationalist or rather as a monopolizer of the conversation and the wonderful way he would set forth the philosophy of 'hedonism.'" Wilde presentation copies are not exceptionally rare in general but we could find few such copies of this important first edition and none any more important as this one. Librairie de l'Art Indépendant; Elkin Mathews et John Lane unknown
