303 résultats
1898190120London: Murdoch & Co 1898. An impassioned defence First separate edition first published as a letter in the Daily Chronicle on 28 May 1897 just over a week after Wilde was released from prison. This is Wilde's defence of the warder of Reading Gaol who was dismissed from his job after giving biscuits to a hungry child. This copy belonged to A. J. A. Symons 1900-1941 with his bookplate in the chemise. Symons was friends with Lord Alfred Douglas and was writing a biography of Wilde at the time of his death. He was the founder of both the First Edition Club and the Book Collector's Quarterly. Octavo pp. 16. Original brown wrappers front cover lettered in black. Housed in custom gold patterned chemise. A few creases and marks to wrappers nick to front wrapper light foxing to first and last pages. A very good copy of this fragile work. Millard 26. unknown
1893186770London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane 1893. Life is far too important a thing ever to talk seriously about it First edition one of 500 trade copies of Wilde's first comedy play produced at the St James's Theatre on 20 February 1892. An instant success it is considered "revolutionary in its mingling of the vocabulary of comedy the potential of tragedy and the insistence on realism" ODNB. Cigarette in hand Wilde made his legendary curtain call on the opening night: "Your appreciation has been most intelligent. I congratulate you on the great success of your performance which persuades me that you think almost as highly of the play as I do myself." An additional 50 large-paper copies were also issued. Small quarto. With 16 pp. publisher's catalogue dated September 1893 at end. Original pink cloth spine lettered in gilt stylized flower and leaf motifs by Charles Shannon in gilt to spine and covers edges untrimmed. Partially removed catalogue note and previous ownership inscription to front endpapers. Extremities bumped faint marks to front cover a few neat pencil marks to contents. A very good copy. Mason 357. hardcover
1878182528Oxford: Thos. Shrimpton and Son 1878. Wilde debuts First edition of Wilde's first independent publication a poetic evocation of the historic Italian city composed while a student at Oxford and awarded the university's prestigious Newdigate Prize; "its laments for the sufferings of Dante and Byron proclaimed admiration and anticipation" ODNB. The inspiration for the poem came on a "vacation ramble" to Italy in 1877. Wilde recited the poem at the Sheldonian Theatre on 26 June where according to the review published the next day in the Oxford and Cambridge Undergraduate's Journal he was "listened to with rapt attention and frequently applauded" Ellman p. 94. Octavo pp. 16. Original grey-green printed wrappers lettered in black. Housed in custom green cloth box. Wrappers partially detached but holding edges of wrappers lightly toned with small chips internally fresh. A very good copy of a fragile publication. Mason 301. Richard Ellmann Oscar Wilde 1987. hardcover
1878149908Oxford: Thos. Shrimpton and Son 1878. Attractively bound copy of Wilde's first independent publication First edition of Wilde's first independent publication an attractively bound copy preserving the original wrappers and with the bookplate to the front pastedown of the eccentric sportsman and artist William Eden 1849-1915 father of future Prime Minister Anthony Eden and who like Wilde had a dispute with the artist James McNeill Whistler. The inspiration for Wilde's prize-winning poem came on a "vacation ramble" to Italy in 1877 with the precentor and junior dean of Trinity College Dublin William Mahaffy. According to the review published the next day in The Oxford and Cambridge Undergraduate's Journal Wilde's recitation of it at Oxford was "listened to with rapt attention and frequently applauded" Ellman p. 94. Eden excelled at a range of sports from boxing and horse riding to shooting "the epitome of the sporting squire" ODNB a member of several clubs and well known in London society. So too was he a keen amateur artist and aesthete building a fine collection of paintings and was a member of the aristocratic group The Souls. The contrast between the sportsman and the aesthete has been noted: "There was little that was harmonious in his nature and the aesthetic side warred with and exacerbated rather than complemented his athleticism making him a bored sportsman and a militant aesthete. As he grew older the world's failure to correspond to his ideals drove him to furious rages and the debased taste of humanity confirmed his atheism - for how could a God have made such a botch of things" ibid. His dispute with Whistler was occasioned when Eden commissioned a portrait of his wife which Whistler executed but then kept the cheque without handing over the painting leading to a legal case which resulted in Whistler's book The Baronet and the Butterfly 1899. Wilde too had a lengthy rivalry with Whistler out of the courts but with very public sparring. Octavo 16 pp. 176 x 119 mm. Early 20th-century pink straight-grain morocco for Hatchards of Piccadilly spine lettered in gilt pink cloth sides marbled endpapers top edge gilt pink silk page marker; bulked with 20 binder's blanks. With the original green printed wrappers bound in. Spine lightly sunned very light rubbing at extremities short split at foot of front wrapper; an excellent copy. Richard Ellmann Oscar Wilde 1987; Mason 301. hardcover
1889042502London: David Nutt 1889. 2nd Edition. Hardcover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket. small quarto. Walter Crane and Jacomb Hood. prior owner inscriptions to flyleaf binding grubby wear to head of spine very slight toning to end papers. David Nutt hardcover
1882140655Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddart & Co 1882. First edition of Rodd's first book of verse which was published with the assistance of Oscar Wilde. 12mo original publisher's vellum with gilt inner dentelles silk watered endleaves top edge gilt with others untrimmed illustrated. In near fine condition. Neat ownership inscription. Rare. J. M. Stoddart & Co hardcover
189912241JLondon: Leonard Smithers 1899. First Edition. One of 1000 numbered copies. Original lavender gilt-stamped and decorated cloth. Ownership inscription and bookplates of Chauncey Lawrence Williams and Scott Cunningham on the front pastedown. A little trace of sunning to spine with some rubbing near bottom of spine some dust-soiling to the boards else a very good copy. Leonard Smithers hardcover books
18932221667<p>First edition. Octavo. Full modern navy blue morocco a.e.g.; marbled endpapers. Fine fresh copy. 132 pages publisher's 16 page catalog at end dated September 1893. No foxing. No signatures or bookplates. Enclosed in a blue cloth slipcase.</p><p>Printed by T. and A. Constable.</p><p>Mason 357.</p> Elkin Mathews hardcover books
1899140938501London: Leonard Smithers 1899. First Edition. Very Good. First Edition first printing. One of 800 copies originally printed which sold out immediately. Very Good. Covers soiled corners and spine ends softened. Endsheets offset from binder's glue. Previous owner name partially effaced from front paste down. Slight odor to pages. Clipping with apparently forged signature of Oscar Wilde tipped in on recto of final blank sheet by no means assumed to be authentic. Leonard Smithers unknown books
18782178Oxford: Thos. Shrimpton and Son 1878. First edition. First edition. 12mo. 16pp. Original grey-green printed wrappers. Exceedingly scarce first edition with the publisher's printed crest appearing on the cover of the wrappers as well as on the title page. and a vignette woodcut appears on the last page. The prestigious Newdigate Prize Oxford's top award for poetry dates to early 1800's and the winner for 1878 was the young Oscar Wilde. The pamphlet was issued in the same year as was common with many of the early prize winners and is considered Wilde's first publication in book form. He worked on the poem a few years earlier while touring Greece as a student at Oxford. An exemplary the finest we have seen with no wrinkling or central creases as was commonly seen from folding to place in a pocket. Very small nick out of two corners very slight barely detectable browning to covers else extremely clean and bright. Extremely scarce in this condition. 16pp. <br/><br/> Thos. Shrimpton and Son unknown books
1882314013Philadelphia: Russell & Creamer 1882. First edition. With fine partly colored caricature folding map of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and environs; numerous illustrations in text. 96 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. Publisher's blue cloth gilt with publisher's printed paper wrappers bound in. Rubbed minor staining to boards upper wrapper chipped at upper corner with small loss possibly to presentation "Mrs Jas. H. Allen. Book label offsetting to front free end paper. Very good. First edition. With fine partly colored caricature folding map of Chesapeake and Delaware Bays and environs; numerous illustrations in text. 96 pp. 1 vols. 8vo. "The 'Wilde' Æsthetes of 1882". One of the rarest of this series of privately printed volumes produced by this Philadelphia sporting club and an unusual demonstration of the popularity of Oscar Wilde during his American tour of 1882. The verso of the title page includes a list of the 22 members of the cruise "The 'Wilde' Æsthetes of 1882" with the title in a floral heading giving them all first names of flowers and Wildean associations including: <br/>Sunflower SMITH Oscar's first love too poetical .<br/>Mignonette MOUSLEY Oscar's twin brother too fat for a Porpoise.<br/>Rhododendron RAUCH Oscar's great-aunt too much 'poke.'<br/>Woodbine WEHN Oscar's little sister too awfully nice.<br/>Petunia PACKARD Oscar's maid too much of a masher.<br/><br/>With the ticket of J.L. Smith 27 S. Sixth St. Philadelphia Please Acknowledge Receipt on front wrapper. "Sunflower" Smith who heads the crew list was a Philadelphia map publisher<br/><br/>Clifford P. "Arbutus" Allen is described as the loggist; and Herbert S. "Petunia" Packard as the artist. Allen b. 1841 was the regular scribe for the club's annual fishing cruises.<br/><br/>RARE. Wetzel p. 199; Bruns W83; Library of John M. Schiff Sotheby's 11 Dec. 1990 lot 132 this copy; not in Heller. Provenance: Mortimer L. Schiff with his bookplate Russell & Creamer unknown books
18917941London: James R. Osgood 1891. First edition. Very Good . One of 1000 copies. A Very Good copy fresh and clean throughout. Publisher's pictorial tan cloth stamped in gilt. Cloth a bit faded and foxed. Gilt very bright and attractive. Dent to edge of lower board at bottom corner. Modern bookplate D. Chisholm Simpson and ink ownership stamp Yew Tree Cottage to upper endpapers. A some toning to upper free endpaper otherwise very fresh and clean internally. Complete with the four plates illustrated by Charles Shannon which have faded but are somewhat clearer than is usually seen.<br /> <br /> A collection of fairytales from the famed writer wit and aesthete A House of Pomegranates compiles four stories of mermaids hunchbacks kings and princesses. This was actually Wilde's second collection of fairy tales - he had been writing such stories for years - after The Happy Prince and Other Tales published in 1888. A House of Pomegranates was met with some controversy with many reviewers finding the stories too complex and morally ambiguous for children. Wilde clearly had more wide-ranging ambitions than the standard children's tale however and found it absurd that "the extremely limited vocabulary at the disposal of the British child is the standard by which the prose of an artist is to be judged.in building this House of Pomegranates I had about as much intention of pleasing the British child as I had of pleasing the British public." Very Good . James R. Osgood unknown
1893140949205London: Elkin Mathews and John Lane 1893. First Edition. Very Good. First edition first printing. xiv 132 14 2 pp. with 14 advertising pages at rear. Bound in publisher's mauve cloth stamped in gilt. Very Good with soiling and darkening to cloth and bumping to corners and spine ends. Contents lightly toned and thumbed with foxing to endpapers and first and last few pages. One of the Irish playwright Oscar Wilde's best-known plays a comedy in four acts. Elkin Mathews and John Lane unknown
1878140943843Oxford: Thomas Shrimpton and Son 1878. First Edition. First edition. Oxford crest present on front wrap and title page; a later pirate edition lacked these. Mason 301. 16 pp. Bound in publisher's gray-green printed wrappers. An unsophisticated copy Very Good with toning and and few small edge chips to fragile wrappers. Contents bright and in great shape. <p>The author's first book. Thomas Shrimpton and Son unknown
1878233047Oxford: Thos. Shrimpton and Son 1878. First edition first printing. Early twentieth-century three-quarter crushed green morocco over green cloth with gilt rules spine titled ruled and decorated in gilt aeg marbled endpapers bulked with 51 binder's blanks. Bound with original pale blue printed wraps. A very fine copy. Octavo. 16pp. 7" x 5" "O lone Ravenna! many a tale is told / Of thy great glories in the days of old." So Wilde reflects upon the great Italian city. This lyrical exploration of Ravenna introduced the world to Wilde. This work won him the prestigious Oxford Newdigate Prize awarded annually to the best student poem. Wilde recited the poem in public on June 26th 1878 launching his notoriety beyond the walls of academia. <br /> <br /> Wilde was inspired by his travels through the faded glory of the streets of Ravenna the year before. According to Ellmann it is in these streets that "the young man.muses elegiacally upon its fallen greatness"––a musing that would be a continued theme throughout his literary career. <br /> <br /> Beautifully rebound in vibrant green morocco with the original wraps preserved and bound within. <br /> <br /> Mason 301; Ellmann 91. Thos. Shrimpton and Son unknown
1899140938501London: Leonard Smithers 1899. First Edition. Very Good. First Edition first printing. One of 800 copies originally printed which sold out immediately. Very Good. Covers soiled corners and spine ends softened. Endsheets offset from binder's glue. Previous owner name partially effaced from front paste down. Slight odor to pages. Clipping with apparently forged signature of Oscar Wilde tipped in on recto of final blank sheet by no means assumed to be authentic. Leonard Smithers unknown
1891158131891. Ricketts Charles. London: James R. Osgood McIlvaine and Co. 1891. Original salmon paper-covered flexible boards decorated in dark red.<br/> <br/> First Edition of this collection of four dark semi-comic mystery tales. "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime" is an amusing but macabre tale if there can be such a thing about a young man who convinced by Lady Windermere's cheiromantist that he is doomed to commit murder does his best to do so prior to getting married -- out of a sense of duty to his fiancée. As one would expect Lord Arthur bungles his mission. In addition to the title story this book includes "The Sphinx Without a Secret" "The Canterville Ghost" and "The Model Millionaire." The binding of this title with decorations by Charles Ricketts is extremely delicate -- paper-covered flexible boards; although 1500 copies were issued we find this book to be quite uncommon and we have never seen a truly fine copy. In our experience THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY THE HOUSE OF POMEGRANATES and this title are the three Wilde first editions most difficuilt to find in collectible condition. This copy is close to near-fine with a bit of the darkening and mottling of the spine that is typical for this fragile book but with scarcely any actual wear. Mason 345. Housed in a handsome gilt-paneled morocco-backed slipcase with inner chemise. unknown
1899022513LONDON : Leonard SMITHERS and Co. 1899. Not Stated . Hardcover. Very Good/No Jacket. Leonard SMITHERS and Co. B00K: Very G00D/ 1899 . B00K: Very G00D/ $3985.O3 Reduced from. the IMP0RTANCE of BEING EARNEST: a TRIVIAL C0MEDY for SERI0US PE0PLE by the Author of Lady Windermere's Fan. WILDE 0scar Leonard SMITHERS and Co. 1899 There is no limited or edition statement. H/c Brown Top And Balance Of Tan Spine With Title And Design In Polished Gold Letters Hard Cover B00K: Very G00D/ Shelf Edge And Corner Wear. 151 Numbered Pages Printed On Tan Paper Browning And Spotting From Aging In Very Good/ Condition Clean And Tight To The Spine Slight Wear. The Exterior Covering Of The Boards Are Not Decorated. D/j: None. = Description Applies To This B00K Only Which Is A Historically Significant Treasure From The Past Hard To Find Will Be Packaged And Shipped = Carefully To Avoid Shipping Damage And Will Make It An Excellent Addition To Your Own Personal Library Collection Or As A Gift For The Discriminating Reader / Collector/. = WORLD WIDE SHIPPING AVAILABLE. <br/> <br/> Leonard SMITHERS and Co. hardcover
1894182551Oxford: J. Vincent; Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent & Co. London 1894. An uncommon parody of Wilde First edition one of 750 copies of this Oxford play satirizing Oscar Wilde. The authors of this anonymous parody an entertaining imitation of the classical Greek comedy of Aristophanes were three Oxford undergraduates. Leopold Amery 1873-1955 later a prominent journalist and conservative politician. Francis Wrigley Hirst 1873-1953 later a successful journalist editor of The Economist and biographer of Thomas Jefferson. Little is known about Henry Alford Antony Cruso besides that he published another drama in 1907. The initialism Y.T.O. comprises the last letter of their surnames. The student-authors were motivated by "an honest dislike for Dorian Gray Salome The Yellow Book and the whole of the erotic lack-a-daisical opium-cigarette literature of the day". The play was published in 1894 just before Wilde's arrest and trial when he was at the height of his fame. Octavo. Original buff wrappers rebacked front cover lettered in green. Wrappers a little marked and soiled spot to prelims leaves unopened. A very good copy. Mason 685. unknown
189828830London: Leonard Smithers 1898. First edition one of 800 copies printed on handmade paper. Yellow-brown boards with white cloth spine. Usual discoloration to the endpapers but a fine copy. "Ed. Edmonds / 15. Febry. 1898" signature on first blank page. <br/><br/> Leonard Smithers hardcover books
1899OW055London: Leonard Smithers and Co. 1899 First edition first printing one of 1000 copies. Publisher' pale lavender cloth with decorative leaf designs lettered in gilt to spine fore and bottom edges of text block untrimmed. A very good copy some light rubbing to the extremities some fraying to the lower corner light foxing to the first several leaves and a former owner signature to the front endpaper. Mason 381. Widely considered Wilde's masterpiece The Importance of Being Earnest is a three act play that was first performed in London at the St. James Theatre on February 14 1895 under the direction of Mr. George Alexander. A satire on Victorian social obligations the play features two protagonists John Worthing and Algernon Moncrieff both of whom use alternate identities to lead separate lives in the country and the city. Although the first performance was decidedly successful The Importance of Being Earnest was closed after only 86 shows due to the negative publicity surrounding Wilde's controversial lawsuit with The Marquess of Queensberry. Wilde moved to Paris after his reputation was tarnished and ceased writing dramas making The Importance of Being Earnest his final play. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good. London: Leonard Smithers and Co. hardcover books
1898882015London: 1898. First Edition. 8vo. One of 800 copies on handmade paper. White lined-backed cinnamon cloth in a later cloth slipcase. Binding lightly soiled. Mason 371. Original White Cloth Gilt. Good. Hardcover
1896019044: the NEW YORK BOOK CO. 1896. Hardcover. Good. B00K: Good/ 1896 . B00K: Good/ $250.90 BALLAD of READING GAOL WILDE Oscar the NEW YORK BOOK CO. 1896 Shown On Book Which Was Printed After 1904. Small H/c This Edition Printed After 1904 Brown Paper Spine With No Title Hard Cover B00K: Good/ 35 Numbered Pages UnNumbered Pages That Are Clean And Tight To The Spine Printed On Tan Paper Browning From Aging In Very Good/ Condition. Spine Broken Inside B00K. Water Stains On Front Cover Not Stuck No Odor No Mold. D/j: None. = No Odors No Other Writing No Names No Rippling Not Stuck Together No Book Plate Not X~Library No Remainder Or Other Marks. Description Applies To This B00K Only. = = This B00K Is Hard To Find Will Be Packaged And Shipped = Carefully To Avoid Shipping Damage And Will Make It An Excellent Addition To Your Own Personal Library Collection Or As A Gift. = = World Wide Shipping AVAILABLE. = = <br/> <br/> the NEW YORK BOOK CO. hardcover
1899150425002London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. First Edition. Very Good. First Edition one of 1000 copies though this copy is not numbered. In Very Good condition. Bumping to corners and wear at extremities. Soiling to cloth. Previous owner name and date to front free end paper. Toning to pages. A handsome copy. Leonard Smithers and Co unknown books
1898109921Slim 8vo. London: Leonard Smithers 1898. Slim 8vo 4. 31ff. Printed on hand-made paper on one side of the page only. Original quarter white buckram mustard boards backstrip lettered in gilt a good copy slightly soiled and backstrip browned. § First edition one of 800 copies on handmade paper. This controversial poem was written by Wilde under the pseudonym of the number he was given in prison. It includes some of Wilde’s most famous lines: “each man kills the thing he lovesâ€; “some love too little some too long some sell while others buyâ€; “every prison that men build is built with bricks of shameâ€. Leonard Smithers hardcover books