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 160
13.02.2025 00:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
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ID 1362871
Lot 160 | WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)
Estimate value
£ 100 000 – 150 000
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)
The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. By the Author of Lady Windermere's Fan. London: Leonard Smithers, 1899.
A fine and remarkable presentation copy of the first edition: number 1 of 12 large paper copies on Japanese vellum, movingly inscribed by Wilde to Leonard Smithers, the publisher of the book and one of the crucial figures of the Aesthetic movement. Wilde’s hugely popular play, called by W.H. Auden 'a pure verbal opera', opened to wide acclaim at the St. James's Theatre, London, on February 14, 1895, but was withdrawn after 86 performances following Wilde’s arrest and imprisonment on charges of gross indecency as a consequence of his failed libel suit against Lord Queensbury, the father of Wilde's lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.

The present copy is inscribed to Leonard Smithers, one of the most innovative and influential printers of the period. Smithers was among a small group of publishers who, according to Robert Scholes, 'were so influential in British literary developments around the turn of the century'. 'Among these new literary publishers, Smithers was the most daring, courageous, and, in some respects, the most clever and talented of them all [...] The years between 1895 and 1900 were Smithers's glory years. During that half decade after the arrest and imprisonment of Oscar Wilde ... Smithers managed to publish a number of books and a magazine containing literature and art which have since proved to be the last and the finest embodiment of the art and literature - of the mind and spirit - of the Aesthetic and Decadent Movements which culminated in the Nineties [...] Publishing the work of the avant-garde in the Nineties was dangerous business but an endeavour Smithers did not shirk. He had nothing but contempt for the narrow-minded and often hypocritical morality of the day and showed his willingness on many occasions to defy the forces of patriarchal power and puritanical fanaticism which had overwhelmed Wilde.' Nelson, Publisher to the Decadents. pp. 3-5.

The play was published in an edition of 1000 copies with a further 100 large paper copies printed on Van Gelder Zonen paper, numbered and signed by Wilde, and additionally twelve numbered copies signed by Wilde on Japanese vellum made for presentation only. Mason makes a census of the known copies on Japanese vellum: this copy was unknown to him. He lists numbers 3 (Robert Ross’s copy, inscribed), number 4 (now in the BL), numbers 10, 11 and 12 that had appeared at Auction. Robert Ross’s copy sold at Sotheby's New York, 20 April 2012, lot 366 $362,500, then Sotheby’s, London 24 November 2015, lot 132, £197,000. Mason 383 'Issued for presentation only'.

Quarto (224 x 177mm). Numbered 1 in purple ink by Smithers, boldly signed by Oscar Wilde below with a large flourish (light marginal age toning). Original publisher’s vellum designed by Charles H. Shannon, sides with five gilt feather tools, spine gilt-lettered with two additional gilt feather tools; in folding vellum box reproducing the design of the binding. Provenance: Leonard Smithers (1861-1907; presentation inscription from Wilde: 'To Leonard Smithers from the Author. In sincere friendship and astonishment. Feb. 1899') – Barry Humphries (1934-2023; bookplate).
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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