WILDE, W[illiam] R[obert]Biblio.com
215 résultats
1862AQ27877Dublin: Hodges Smith and Co. 1862. 4 100 iv pp. With 90 engraved illustrations in the text. Later brown half-morocco marbled paper boards lettered in gilt to spine. With original publisher's printed buff wrappers and a contemporary envelope addressed to 'Mr. Pfister Medal Room British Museum' bound in. Rubbed spine dulled. Ink-stamp of the Birmingham Assay Office to recto of FFEP. The sole edition of a comprehensive catalogue of the gold and gold- plated artefacts held by the Royal Irish Academy compiled by Anglo-Irish oto-ophthalmologic physician and father of Oscar Wilde William Robert Wilde 1815-1876; the third and final volume of a series on the antiquities kept by the institution the first was published to coincide with the association's meeting in Dublin in 1857. The Birmingham Assay Office one of the four assay offices in the United Kingdom was founded in 1773 and to this day remains responsible for testing the purity of precious metals and issuing hallmarks of certification. . First edition. 8vo. Hodges, Smith, and Co. hardcover
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
1891019038London : James R. 0SG00D McILVAINE & C0. 1891. Hardcover. Very Good. C. RICKETTS & C. H. SHANNON Design & Decoration by. . B00K: Very G00D/ $837.90 WILDE 0scar a H0USE of P0MEGRANATES C. RICKETTS & C. H. SHANNON Design & Decoration by. James R.OSGOOD McILVAINE & C0. L0ND0N 1891 There is no limited edition or edition statement. Wide H/c Brown Top And Balance Of Tan Spine With Title And Design In Polished Gold Letters Hard Cover B00K: Very Good/ Slight Shelf Edge And Corner Wear. Corners Are Square. 157 Numbered Pages Printed On Tan Paper Browning And Spotting From Aging In Very Good/Fine/ 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 B0K Only. This B0k 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 For The Collector / Reader. WORLD WIDE SHIPPING AVAILABLE. <br/> <br/> James R. 0SG00D McILVAINE & C0. hardcover
1894004078London: John Lane/Bodley Head 1894. First Edition . Decorative Cloth. Good to Very Good/No Jacket as Issued. 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. This first edition of Wilde's play limited to 500 copies was published a year before his masterpiece "The Importance of Being Earnest". Publisher's bookplate front pastedown hinges starting fading to spine cloth. Pink cloth with gilt trim and gilt decorations edges untrimmed. <br/> <br/> John Lane/Bodley Head hardcover
1894OW056London: John Lane at the Sign of The Bodley Head 1894 First edition limited large paper copy with "Of this edition 50 copies have been printed" statement on the verso of the fourth preliminary page and no publisher's catalogue at the back of the book. Publisher's yellow buckram boards with gilt decorations by Charles Shannon to covers and spine spine lettered in gilt. Near fine with some toning to spine and board edges light wear to spine ends with a very shallow chip to cloth at foot of spine bottom right corner of front board worn to boards and heavy offsetting to endpapers. Overall a beautiful copy of one of Wilde's four celebrated drawing-room plays. Mason 365. A Woman of No Importance is a four-act play that was first produced in London at the Haymarket Theatre on April 19 1893. Like many of Wilde's plays it satirizes the English upper-class and criticizes Victorian society. The title "a woman of no importance" refers to the character Mrs. Arbuthnot who bears the illegitimate son of Lord Illingworth. Although societal conventions deem her a sinful woman Wilde proves Arbuthnot a respectable widow who is rewarded with a son who treats women respectfully. In contrast Illingworth one of Wilde's archetypal dandy figures is rejected by his son and many of the women in the play making him a "man of no importance." A Woman of No Importance was published simultaneously in two formats: small octavo the standard edition of 500 copies and quarto the "Large Paper" issue of 50 copies. While both constitute the first edition of A Woman of No Importance the large paper copies are decidedly rarer than the octavos; intended to be more exclusive and deluxe publications large paper formats were typically produced using higher quality materials lacked the publisher's advertisements and were printed in small print runs. Because they were intended as collectibles from publication large paper copies of Wilde's plays are exceedingly scarce. First Edition Limited Large Paper Copy. Hard Cover. Near Fine. London: John Lane at the Sign of The Bodley Head hardcover
1894182536London: John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head 1894. Mr Oscar Wilde is not in the house First edition one of 500 trade copies. The play's opening show was met with applause for the actors and boos for the playwright causing Wilde to announce from behind a curtain "Ladies and gentlemen I regret to inform you that Mr Oscar Wilde is not in the house" Ellmann p. 381. Wilde's opulent production used "the market forces of luxury dressmaking to comment upon the worlds of his Haymarket patrons. Audiences in the stalls and boxes continued to be both flattered and vexed by the antics of their on-stage doubles while viewers in the upper galleries enjoyed the additional spectacle of fashionable Society catching its likeness in Wilde's cunningly set mirrors" Kaplan p. 252. The play premiered at Haymarket Theatre on 19 April 1893 and ran until 16 August for 113 performances. A further 50 large paper copies were also issued. Small quarto. Publisher's 16-page catalogue dated March 1894 at rear. Original pink linen with gilt floral decorations by Charles Shannon spine lettered in gilt fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Housed in a custom green cloth slipcase and chemise. Faint marks and fading to spine ends slightly bumped cloth lightly rubbed contents toned as usual. A very good copy. Mason 364. Richard Ellmann Oscar Wilde 1988; Joel Kaplan "Wilde on the Stage" in Peter Raby ed. The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde 1997. hardcover
1894186848London: John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head 1894. Mr Oscar Wilde is not in the house First edition one of 500 trade copies. The opening show of this satirical play on English manners met with applause for the actors and boos for the playwright causing Wilde to announce from behind a curtain "Ladies and gentlemen I regret to inform you that Mr Oscar Wilde is not in the house" Ellmann p. 381. Wilde's opulent production used "the market forces of luxury dressmaking to comment upon the worlds of his Haymarket patrons. Audiences in the stalls and boxes continued to be both flattered and vexed by the antics of their on-stage doubles while viewers in the upper galleries enjoyed the additional spectacle of fashionable Society catching its likeness in Wilde's cunningly set mirrors" Kaplan p. 252. The play premiered at Haymarket Theatre on 19 April 1893 and ran until 16 August for 113 performances. A further 50 large-paper copies were also issued. Quarto. Publisher's 16-page catalogue dated March 1894 bound at the rear. Original pink cloth spine lettered in gilt stylised flower and leaf motifs by Charles Shannon in gilt to spine and covers edges untrimmed. Cloth lightly marked and bumped small spots of wear to extremities faint vertical crease to rear cover contents generally toned some browning to pp. 42-3. A very good copy. Mason 364. Richard Ellmann Oscar Wilde 1988; Joel Kaplan "Wilde on the Stage" The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde ed. by Peter Raby 1997. hardcover
1894023252London: John Lane 1894. First edition. hardcover. Good. Mauve cloth faded and soiled. Gilt on spine very faded. Paper browned. Mason 364. One of 500 copies. Always securely packed. Professional booksellers since 1994. Satisfaction guaranteed. John Lane unknown
1894149906London: John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head 1894. Attractively bound First edition trade issue one of 500 copies printed; a further 50 copies were also issued on handmade paper. An attractively bound copy with the bookplate to the rear 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. 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. Small quarto 204 x 148 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. Bound without initial blank. A few pencilled lines in margins. Spine lightly sunned very light rubbing at extremities slight split in hinge preceding dedication leaf contents clean; an excellent copy. Mason 364. hardcover
1894164122London: John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head 1894. Epigrammatic brilliance and shrewd social observation First edition one of 500 trade copies. The opening show of this satirical play on English manners was greeted with applause for the actors and boos for the playwright causing Wilde to announce from behind a curtain "Ladies and gentlemen I regret to inform you that Mr Oscar Wilde is not in the house" Ellmann p. 381. Wilde's opulent production used "the market forces of luxury dressmaking to comment upon the worlds of his Haymarket patrons. Audiences in the stalls and boxes continued to be both flattered and vexed by the antics of their on-stage doubles while viewers in the upper galleries enjoyed the additional spectacle of fashionable Society catching its likeness in Wilde's cunningly set mirrors" Kaplan p. 252. The play premiered at Haymarket Theatre on 19 April 1893 and ran until 16 August for 113 performances. An additional 50 large-paper copies were also issued. Small quarto. Publisher's advertisement bookplate on front pastedown and their 16-page catalogue dated March 1894 at end all as called for. Original pink linen with gilt floral decorations by Charles Shannon spine lettered in gilt top edge trimmed others uncut. Welsh-language bookplate of John Evans on front free endpaper. Spine and edges faded light wear to spine ends and corners splits to inner hinges mild toning and spots to contents. A very good copy. Mason 364. Richard Ellmann Oscar Wilde 1988; Joel Kaplan "Wilde on the Stage" The Cambridge Companion to Oscar Wilde ed. by Peter Raby 1997. unknown
1894282902London: John Lane 1894. Limited. hardcover. very good. Tall 8vo lavender cloth faded to tan with gilt designs considerably browned on the spine and edges; pages untrimmed London: John Lane 1894. Limited First Edition.<br/> <br/> Mason 365. One of only 50 copies printed simultaneously with the first trade edition. Internally fine and clean.<br/> <br/> John Lane unknown
189422263London: John Lane 1894. First edition. Hardcover. Publisher's full mauve cloth stamped in gilt spine stamped and lettered in gilt. Very good. 154 pages. 27.5 x 16 cm. Limited edition one of 500 with 16 pages of advertisements at end dated March 1894 Cover gilt design florets by Charles Shannon considerably influenced by his lifetime partner Charles Ricketts both of whom produced work for the Doves Press. MASON 364. The play premièred on 19 April 1893 at London's Haymarket Theatre satirizing English upper-class society. Spine dulled spine extremities creased binding tight; a sound copy. John Lane hardcover
1894304822London: John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head in Vigo Street. Printed by T. and A. Constable Edinburgh 1894. First edition one of 500 copies. 154 1 pp. 1 vols. 4to. Original mauve cloth decorated in gilt. Spine faded cloth at extremities frayed corners bumped some soiling to cloth front flyelaf and first blank torn at gutter. Good. First edition one of 500 copies. 154 1 pp. 1 vols. 4to. Mason 365 John Lane at the Sign of the Bodley Head in Vigo Street. Printed by T. and A. Constable, Edinburgh unknown
1894WE16716London: John Lane 1894. First edition. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition one of 500 copies only printed. Octavo in lavender cloth decorated in gilt and with spine lettered in gilt. Fore edges uncut. 154 pp. plus 16 pp. of adverts for List of Books in Belles Lettres. This copy bears the rather scarce small publisher’s bookplate on the front pastedown announcing “This Book Now Published by John Lane at the Bodley Head in Vigo St. London W.†Very good. Scattered foxing to the endpapers. Shallow wear to the spine extremities and spine a bit rubbed. Some rippling to the lower portion of the cloth on the front board. John Lane hardcover
1894256986London: 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
189412118London: John Lane 1894. First Edition . Hardcover. Good. 1st edition newly rebound in brown leather with a gilt-stamped red leather title piece and Florentine marbled endpapers. New binding fine; the text pages are about good plus. All are toned brown near the edges. The first blank of 2 before the title page bears a gift inscr. in French; that page also chipped at the corners. An owner's name is upside down on the final blank. 154 pp. 16-p. publisher's catalog. <br/> <br/> John Lane hardcover
1899158271899. Shannon Charles. By the Author of Lady Windermere's Fan. London: Leonard Smithers and Co. 1899. Original mauve cloth decorated in gilt.<br/> <br/> First Edition consisting of 1000 regular copies so stated; there were also 100 signed copies on Van Gelder paper plus twelve signed copies on Japan vellum. This was the fourth and last of Wilde's four great comedies of manners -- following LADY WINDERMERE'S FAN published in 1893 A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE 1894 and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST 1899 five months earlier. "An Ideal Husband" had opened at the Theatre Royal on 3 January 1895 the actors had been quite annoyed that Wilde required them to rehearse on Christmas Day only to keep them waiting for him to appear. It was an immediate success but it was while "Earnest" and "Husband" were running that Wilde inadvisably filed suit against the Marquess of Queensberry father of Wilde's lover Lord Alfred Douglas for criminal libel; this quickly morphed into a charge of "gross indecency" against Wilde and when he was arrested in April his plays closed. Sentenced to two years' hard labour 1895-1897 upon his release he fled to France -- where he resided when this book was published. The artistic binding design is by Charles Shannon. This is a very good copy of a book that is difficult to find in any better condition: the spine is rather dull and there is moderate cover soil. Mason 385. Provenance: the front endpaper bears the signature "Wilmer C. France 1899". The pioneering female classicist Emily Wilmer Cave France 1868-1951 married name Wright after 1906 was born in Birmingham England and educated first at Girton College Cambridge then at the University of Chicago -- where she was a Fellow in Latin and in Greek while earning her Ph.D.; from 1897 until her retirement in 1933 which span includes the date this book was published she was a Professor in Greek at Bryn Mawr College. In 2022 the Cambridge Philological Society published a monograph by D.N. Greenwood about her "Steely-Eyed Athena: Wilmer Cave Wright and the Advent of Female Classicists. unknown
1899ST19154London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. FIRST EDITION. ONE OF 1000 COPIES. 215 x 155 mm. 8 3/8 x 6". 8 p.l. 213 1 pp. <br/> Original lavender cloth decorated with gilt flourishes smooth spine with gilt lettering edges untrimmed and ENTIRELY UNOPENED. Mason 385. ◆Spine slightly sunned as virtually always but no wear to joints or hinges and in all A REMARKABLY WELL-PRESERVED OBVIOUSLY UNREAD COPY because unopened and without the soiling this edition is almost always found with.<br/> <br/> This is an exceptionally fine copy of Wilde's second hit play successful like his other witty comedies but with at least slightly more serious social and political content. Opening at the Haymarket Theatre in 1895 and continuing for 124 performances it features as the title character a prominent politician in danger of losing his reputation because of a potentially damaging letter that the play's villain threatens to expose if the husband refuses to support the former's corrupt political agenda. The play moves its characters toward a more ideal moral standard as they struggle with dishonesty hypocrisy double standards materialism and corruption of social and political life. But none of this weighs down Wilde's witty banter as the play suggests after all that even when there is a pretense of the embrace of moral probity nobody is ever that good or is even expected to be. The work is dedicated to the Irish-American writer Frank Harris who is said to have given Wilde the idea to use insider trading which related to Disraeli's financial machinations as part of the plot here. Covering the play for the "Saturday Review" George Bernard Shaw declared Wilde 1854-1900 "our only thorough playwright. He plays with everything: with wit with philosophy with drama with actors and audience with the whole theatre." On nearly all copies of this edition the publisher's binding is now encountered in unappetizing condition; finding our unopened copy--with virtually none of the soiling almost always seen with the four Wilde plays bound in this lavender cloth--is piece of very good fortune. Leonard Smithers and Co unknown
189919047Limited printing first edition 1000. Very Good hardcover no DJ. Brown-red linen over boards gilt stamped foliate design on front cover and spine; gilt titles on spine. Clean square lightly scuffed covers and spine; spine gilt somewhat dulled; tightly bound; title page unopened at top edge; clean interior but for some darkening perhaps from oil affecting approx 25 pp. 8vo 213 pp. London: Leonard Smithers and Co. hardcover
189928234London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. First edition. Hardcover. Good overall. A limited printing of the first edition 1000. <br /> <br /> In 1996 critic Bindon Russell wrote in "The Wildean" that "An Ideal Husband" is "the most autobiographical of Wilde's plays mirroring as it does his own situation of a double life and an incipient scandal with the emergence of terrible secrets. Whilst Lord Goring is a character with much of Wilde's own wit insight and compassion Gertrude Chiltern can be seen as a portrait of Constance Wilde." <br /> <br /> 8vo 213pp brown-red linen over boards gilt stamped decoration on front cover and spine; gilt titles on spine. Spine rebacked with the original spine laid down. With bookplates of Herschel V. Jones and Alfred and Sara Bernheim. Internally clean some pages uncut. Leonard Smithers and Co hardcover
1899182530London: Leonard Smithers and Co. 1899. I really think it reads the best of my plays First edition trade issue one of 1000 copies. Wilde's political comedy premiered at the Haymarket on 3 January 1895 and ran until 6 April. His arrest the day before the production closed precipitated his "utter social destruction" ODNB and the play was not published in book form until two years after his release from prison. An Ideal Husband led George Bernard Shaw to hail Wilde as "our only thorough playwright. He plays with everything: with wit with philosophy with drama with actors and audience with the whole theatre" Saturday Review 12 January 1895. Wilde himself wrote to the publisher stating that "I really think it reads the best of my plays" cited in Nelson p. 392. The edition also included 100 signed copies on large paper and 12 on Japanese vellum reserved for presentation. Small quarto. Original pink linen with gilt floral motifs after designs by Charles Shannon spine lettered in gilt fore and bottom edges uncut. Bookplate of the collector and Steinbeck bibliographer Adrian Homer Goldstone 1897-1977. Spine cocked and sunned extremities bumped occasional patches of rubbing contents foxed. A very good copy. Mason 385. James G. Nelson Publisher to the Decadents: Leonard Smithers in the Careers of Beardsley Wilde Dowson 2000. hardcover
1899186774London: Leonard Smithers and Co. 1899. I really think it reads the best of my plays First edition trade issue one of 1000 copies. Wilde's political comedy premiered at the Haymarket on 3 January 1895 and ran until 6 April. His arrest the day before the production closed precipitated his "utter social destruction" ODNB and the play was not published in book form until two years after his release from prison. The edition also included 100 signed copies on large paper and 12 on Japanese vellum reserved for presentation. Quarto. Original pink cloth spine lettered in gilt stylized leaf motifs by Charles Shannon in gilt to spine and covers edges untrimmed. Bookplate of one W. A. S. Ray. Spine sunned and a little soiled closed tears to upper margins of half-title and title page neatly repaired. A very good copy. Mason 385. James G. Nelson Publisher to the Decadents: Leonard Smithers in the Careers of Beardsley Wilde Dowson 2000. hardcover
1899159879London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. Wilde's favourite play with an appealing association First edition one of 1000 copies printed presented in the year of publication from Lady Lewis the wife of Wilde's solicitor to their mutual friend the actress Elizabeth Robins. Lewis has inscribed the front free endpaper: "With love from Beth. Lewis. Aug. 6th 99 Vulpera"; Robins's ownership inscription is on the half-title: "Elizabeth Robins from Lady Lewis Waldhaus Tarasp Switzerland". Waldhaus Vulpera was a popular Grand Hotel in the Swiss Alps. Elizabeth Lewis née Eberstadt was the second wife of Wilde's long-time friend and legal adviser Sir George Lewis 1833-1911. A discreet and astute solicitor he advised Wilde on various occasions and on his request represented Lord Alfred Douglas in 1983 to recover an incriminating letter from a blackmailer. Richard Ellman Wilde's biographer mentions a series of letters sent by Wilde to her during his lecture tour of North America in which he boasted about his various successes. The American actress and feminist Elizabeth Robins 1862-1952 is best known for her play Votes for Women! which is credited with inaugurating suffrage drama. Wilde met her for the first time at a reception at Lady Seton's House in 1888 and subsequently used his influence to help her gain success on the London stage. He gave her feedback on her performances throughout her career. Oscar Wilde's third comedy An Ideal Husband premiered at the Haymarket on 3 January 1895 preceding his sensational trial but was not published until after his release from prison. In a letter to his publisher Leonard Smithers Wilde wrote that "I really think it reads the best of my plays" cited in Nelson p. 392. Quarto. Original pink cloth flat spine lettered in gilt leaf motifs to spine and covers designed by Charles Shannon edges untrimmed. Spine and head of rear cover sunned cloth otherwise bright spine ends and tips slightly rubbed and bumped tiny mark to front cover offsetting to endpapers a few spots of foxing to half-title otherwise generally clean. A very good fresh copy. Mason p. 433; James G. Nelson Publisher to the Decadents: Leonard Smithers in the Careers of Beardsley Wilde Dowson 2000. hardcover
189916609JLondon: Leonard Smithers 1899. First Edition. Bookplate of noted writer and book collector Carroll Atwood Wilson. Laid in this copy are two printed in-house reports sheets from the Theatre Royal Haymarket from the play’s first run of 124 performances. Handwritten in ink are the sums tallying the box office receipts for the 93rd and 94th performances of An Ideal Husband on March 23 1895. The matinee brought in 82 pounds and the evening performance totaled 144 pounds. Remarkably this copy still has the pages unopened and intact. Slight chipping at top of spine else very good. Leonard Smithers unknown
189996121London: Leonard Smithers and Co 1899. First signed limited edition of Wilde's classic comedic stage play. Octavo original lavender publisher's cloth with gilt titles to the spine and gilt flourishes to the spine and front panel. One of 100 large paper copies signed by Oscar Wilde this is number 85. In near fine condition with a touch of toning. Housed in a custom half morocco slipcase. A superior example. 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. Leonard Smithers and Co hardcover
