"Outside of a dog, man's best friend is a book. Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read."
— Groucho Marx
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 - 10 (of 10)
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 Complete Works of Oscar Wilde. Consists of the following: 1. The Picture of Dorian Gray; 2. The Importance of Being Earnest; 3. A House of Pomegranates; The Happy Prince, and Other Tales; 4. De Profundis, First Edition, with Additional Matter; 5. Lady Windermere's Fan; 6. Intentions, and The Soul of Man; 7. The Duchess of Padua, First English Edition; 8. A Woman of No Importance; 9. An Ideal Husband; 10. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, and Other Prose Pieces; 11. Salome; A Florentine Tragedy First Edition; Vera First Edition; 12. Reviews, First Edition in book form; 13. Miscellanies, First Edition in book form; 14. Poems (Includes a previously unpublished poem).
13 volumes by Methuen and Co., London; "The Picture of Dorian Gray" at Charles Carrington, Paris, 1908. FIRST COLLECTED EDITION, LIMITED to 1000 sets on handmade paper. 14 volumes. 8vo. Finely bound in recent dark green half oasis morocco with gilt titles and extra gilt to spines, cloth boards, top..... 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 Ballad of Reading Gaol.
London: Leonard Smithers, 1899. [Poetry] EARLY EDITION, the first to name Wilde on the title page. Octavo (23 x 15cm), pp.[8] 31 [2] (leaves printed to recto only). Publisher's cream quarter cloth with gilt titles to spine, and tan cloth over boards. All edges untrimmed. Black ink gift inscription to..... 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
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Prose Pieces.
London: Methuen and Co., 1908. [Short Stories] FINELY BOUND LIMITED EDITION. Octavo (22 x 16cm), pp.[10] 266 [4]. One of just 1000 copies thus printed on handmade paper. Contemporary brown half crushed morocco by ZAEHNSDORF with raised bands, gilt titles and decoration to spine, and brown cloth over boards. Neatly..... More
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Prose Pieces.
London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., 1891. [Short Stories] FIRST EDITION. Octavo (18 x 12cm), pp.[4] 168. Publisher's tan paper covered boards with titles in dark brown, rebacked with remains of the original spine laid over. W.H. Smith blind stamp and recent bookseller's ticket to flyleaf. Light spotting to..... More
The Picture of Dorian Gray.
London: Ward, Lock, and Co., [1891]. [Literature] FIRST EDITION, FIRST ISSUE. Octavo (20 x14cm), pp.334. First issue showing the correct imprint (later Ward Lock and Bowden), plus the misprinting 'nd' on page 208, line 23. Bound in original grey paper-covered bevelled boards with titles and ornate gilt decoration to upper..... More
Results 1 - 10 (of 10)