" It is a man's duty to have books. A library is not a luxury, but one of the necessaries of life. "
— Henry Ward Beecher
Oscar Wilde | First Editions
1854 - 1900
Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 1854 - 30 November 1900) Irish writer and poet, hugely successful playwright and novelist, master of the bon mot and the pithy aphorism, the very soul of the late Victorian literary era and its tragic sacrifice on the altar of respectability and hypocrisy. Very few figures capture the late-Victorian, slightly decadent, slightly silly, slightly sadistic, insanely creative fin-de-siecle period so completely as Oscar Wilde. His reputation as the leading aesthete of his day, equal parts hero and villain depending upon which side of the aesthetic argument you came down on, is well known. Parodied in Gilbert and Sullivan's "Patience" 1881 he immediately caught the imagination of the public and with the sponsorship of John Murray and the assistance of the bizarre and enigmatic Colonel Morse Oscar embarked on a wildly successful tour of the US.
See below our stock of Oscar Wilde First Editions, fine bindings, sets and other collectible material.
Results 1 - 9 (of 9)
contribute to 'The Evening Standard Book of Strange Stories'
London: Hutchinson and Co., no date [1934]. [Strange Tales - Omnibus] FIRST EDITION. Large octavo (21 x 13cm), pp.1024. Publisher's red cloth blocked in black, illustrated green dust-wrapper. An unquestionably fine copy with some light wear to spine tips and a few tiny nicks. A comprehensive collection of eighty-eight wierd..... More
The Importance of Being Earnest.
London: Samuel French Ltd, 26 Southampton St., n.d. [c.1900]. French's Acting Edition, 'The Dramatic Works of Oscar Wilde' No.1. pp.52. Publisher's decorative pale green paper covers printed in black with 'Gothic' title in two lines (some show the title over three lines, priority unknown). Original price 1d,.6s. Some trivial handling..... More
The Works of Oscar Wilde [set of writings/plays/novels including The Happy Prince, The Canterville Ghost, An Ideal Husband, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, The Selfish Giant, The Importance of Being Earnest, The Picture of Dorian Gray, A House of Pomegranates, De Profundis, Lady Windermere's Fan, The Duchess of Padua, A Woman of No Importance, Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, Salomé, A Florentine Tragedy, etc.]
London: The Edinburgh Society 1911. Literature. 14 volumes, Octavo. LIMITED MAGDALEN EDITION, number 30/480 sets. Frontispiece and other illustrations. Bound in half dark green oasis morocco with cloth sides, gilt rules to spine, raised bands, top edge gilt. Internally clean, exterior unmarked. A fine set in a superb recent leather..... More
The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Paris: Charles Carrington 1908. FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION. Quarto (26 x 20cm), pp.312. Illustrated with 7 full-page wood engravings by Eugene Dété from drawings by Paul Thiriat of Paris, with titled tissue guards. The publisher's note on the illustrations is tipped on to the half title (although dated 1908, the book..... More
The Picture of Dorian Gray.
Paris: Charles Carrington, 1908. [Literature] FIRST ILLUSTRATED EDITION, DELUXE ISSUE, with signature of noted Wildean A.J. SYMONS. Quarto (26 x 20cm), pp.312. Illustrated with 7 full-page wood engravings by Eugene Dété from drawings by Paul Thiriat of Paris, with titled tissue guards. The publisher's note on the illustrations is tipped..... More
De Profundis. Edited and Illustrated by Peter Forster.
London: The Folio Society, 1991. [Literary classic] FIRST EDITION THUS. Tall octavo (24 x 15cm), pp.112; [2], blank. Publisher's cloth-backed decorative paper boards, lettered in gilt to backstrip, top edge gilt, others untrimmed, black endpapers, original acetate jacket. No slip case as issued. A lovely copy of this scarce Folio..... More
Children In Prison and Other Cruelties of Prison Life.
London: Murdoch and Co., 1898. FIRST EDITION in book-form. Pamphlet, pp.16, printed wrappers. Trivial toning. A fine copy, but for the rust-through from the single staple at fold. The text of Wilde's celebrated letter to the Daily Chronicle, appearing on 28th May 1897, which concerned the affair of Warder T...... More
Lady Windermere's Fan. A Play in Four Acts.
London: Samuel French, no date [circa 1893]. [Drama] EARLY IMPRESSION. Octavo pamphlet (18 x 13cm), pp.[2] 52 [2]. Sewn in green paper wrapper, lacking the back cover, with titles to front cover, including 'No. 2', denoting this as an early impression. Sewing a little loose, but holding. Back cover lost;..... More
The Sphinx.
London: John Lane, The Bodley Head, 1918. [Poetry] FIRST EDITION THUS. Small square octavo (15 x 14cm), pp.46; [2], advertisements. Publisher's pale green paper covered boards titled and illustrated in dark green to spine and front, in pictorial dust-wrapper (both illustrations by Charles Ricketts). Ink name to flyleaf, minor wear..... More
Results 1 - 9 (of 9)