WILDE, OscarBiblio.com
The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
1925ref. 139325London: Methuen & Co. Ltd 1925. First illustrated edition of this rare Wilde title. Royal octavo original half cloth illustrated with woodcuts by Frans Masereel. One of 450 numbered copies this is number 16. Fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. Wilde’s “theme is not as is often supposed art’s divorce from life but its inescapable arraignment by experience. His creative works almost always end in unmasking. The hand that adjusts the green carnation suddenly shakes an admonitory finger. While the ultimate virtue in Wilde’s essays is in make-believe the denouement of his dramas and narratives is that masks have to go. We must acknowledge what we are. Wilde at least was keen to do so. Though he offered himself as the apostle of pleasure his created world contains much pain” Ellmann xvi. Methuen & Co. Ltd hardcover
Raptis Rare Books · United States$750.00≈ €668.75
