The Happy Prince, signed with an autograph letter - photo 1
The Happy Prince, signed with an autograph letter - photo 2
The Happy Prince, signed with an autograph letter - photo 3
The Happy Prince, signed with an autograph letter - photo 4

The Happy Prince, signed with an autograph letter

Lot 88
27.06.2024 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
Sold
$ 32 760
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
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ID 1236318
Lot 88 | The Happy Prince, signed with an autograph letter
Estimate value
$ 10 000 – 15 000
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900). The Happy Prince and Other Tales. Illustrated by Walter Crane and Jacomb Hood. London: David Nutt, 1888.

A lovely copy of the rare large paper edition, signed by Oscar Wilde and publisher David Nutt on the limitation page, together with an autograph postcard by the author. One of 75 copies, this is number 27. Wilde's first collection of fairy stories for children, The Happy Prince and Other Tales "marks the beginning of Wilde's true creativity" (Jeanette Winterson, The Guardian, 2013). Indeed, the stories are equal parts Brothers Grimm and Walter Pater, combining Wilde’s signature wit with dark explorations of loss and sacrifice. Walter Crane's illustrations depict The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and The Remarkable Rocket. Mason 313.

Quarto (282 x 195mm). Frontispiece and two plates (present in duplicate), title page printed in red and black, uncut. Original Japanese vellum-covered boards with pictorial design by Jacomb Hood, title and imprint in red (some toning and scuffing, as usual; minor mark/scratch through a couple letters in the author's name on spine). Provenance: Stella Belford (ownership inscription dated Sep 95) – C.Condor (signed crayon drawings to fly-leaf and verso of limitation page, labeled "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Happy Prince"). [Together with:] [WILDE, Oscar.] Autograph letter signed ("Sebastian Melmoth") to Madame Stannard, no place, no date. In part: "with very great pleasure of course I like gooseberry tart. How wicked I should be if I did not." (Creased.) Housed together in custom quarter morocco slipcase.
Artist:Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
Place of origin:England
Auction house category:Printed books
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.06.2024 – 27.06.2024
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
Buyer Premium see on Website
Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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