WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900) - photo 1
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900) - photo 2
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900) - photo 3
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900) - photo 4
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900) - photo 5

WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)

Lot 145
13.02.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1362834
Lot 145 | WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)
Estimate value
£ 25 000 – 35 000
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)
The Picture of Dorian Gray. London, New York and Melbourne: Ward Lock and Co., 1891.
First edition in book form, deluxe large-paper issue signed by Wilde, no. 158 of 250 copies, together with an autograph letter lamenting ‘how completely [Dorian Gray] has been understood on all sides’. From the collection of William Roughead WS.

Telling the story of a decadent young man who trades his soul for eternal youth and beauty, ‘Dorian Gray’ has become a byword for the age-old quest for eternal youth. It was published first in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine in 1890 to scathing reviews in the press, to which Wilde replied: ‘It is poisonous if you like, but you cannot deny that it is also perfect, and perfection is what we artists aim at.’ (Hart Davis p.436). Wilde revised and expanded the story for its first edition in book form the next year, issued in a standard issue and, 3 months later, a deluxe large-paper issue signed by Wilde and limited to 250 copies, as here. Even bowdlerised, the book was used against Wilde at his trials, eventually resulting in a prison sentence for ‘gross indecency.’

The present copy was once owned by William Roughead WS, widely considered the father of the true crime genre. He was a Scottish lawyer, criminologist, and celebrated author, friend of Arthur Conan Doyle, and admired by authors from Henry James to Joyce Carol Oates. His ownership of books by Wilde (others are known) may stem from his interest and specialism in famous trials. Mason 329.

Large octavo (220 x 180mm). Printed on Van Gelder paper, half-title and title with decorative lettering designed by Charles Ricketts. Original parchment-backed grey boards, tooled in gilt to a design by Rickets: title and fifty-five small ‘butterfly’ designs by Charles Ricketts in gilt on upper board and title on lower board, top edge gilt (very minor repairs at corners, without the very rare wrapper); modern cream morocco-backed folding case lettered at spine foot by Sangorski and Sutcliffe. Provenance: William Roughead (1870-1952; bookplate) – Barry Humphries (1934-2023; bookplate).

[And] Autograph letter signed (‘Oscar Wilde’) to [Ada Leverson], Albemarle Club [c. 15 July 1893]. Four pages, 176 x 115mm, bifolium (repaired at vertical fold, minor soiling at back horizontal fold), notepaper headed with Club initials ‘AC’. Wilde congratulates Leverson on a humorous article (probably ‘An Afternoon Party’ which was published in Punch on 15 July 1893 and included a brief skit on Dorian Gray): ‘Your sketch is brilliant, as your work always is. / And Dorian Gray looks quite charmng – It is quite tragic for me to think how completely he has been understood on all sides’. He encourages her to collect her sketches, and praises her intuition in matters of art, ‘you see how natural art is’. Writer Ada Leverson was one of Wilde’s closest woman friends. Hart Davis, Complete Letters, 2000, 568-569.
Address of auction CHRISTIE'S
8 King Street, St. James's
SW1Y 6QT London
United Kingdom
Preview
13.02.2025 – 13.02.2025
Phone +44 (0)20 7839 9060
Email
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Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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