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

WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)

Lot 146
13.02.2025 10:00UTC +00:00
Classic
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CHRISTIE'S
AuctioneerCHRISTIE'S
Event locationUnited Kingdom, London
Buyer Premiumsee on Website%
ID 1362925
Lot 146 | WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)
Estimate value
£ 3 000 – 5 000
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900)
The Picture of Dorian Grey. London: Ward Lock and Co., [1891].
First edition of Wilde’s great novel: a presentation copy to an unnamed Princess, most probably Marie Alice Heine, Princess of Monaco. Marie Alice, born Heine, a grand-niece of the poet, was the widow of the Duc de Richelieu, marrying her second husband, Prince Albert Honore Charles of Monaco, in 1889. She was born and raised in New Orleans, before moving back to Europe with her family. She was a friend of Oscar Wilde who dedicated the fairy tale The Fisherman and His Soul in his 1891 book, A House of Pomegranates, to her. 'In "The Diner-Out" (Horizon: October 1941) A. J. A. Symons gave an imaginative account of an apparently actual dinner-party given in 1891 at Claridge’s by Frank Harris for the Princess, at which Wilde with his conversation charmed everyone, even George Moore, who disliked him' (Hart Davis, The letters of Oscar Wilde, 1965 pp. 303). Wilde’s youngest son Vyvyan Holland wrote of her 'one of the people who had remained loyal to my father was Princess Alice of Monaco. She had always protested against the inhumanity of his treatment. She was a devout Catholic and it was she who suggested that I should go to Jesuit school, promising my mother that she would keep an eye on me, see that I was reasonably happy, and let me come and play with her family on Sundays and holidays, whenever I wished to do so' (Vyvyan Holland, Son of Oscar Wilde). Alice also made a deep impression on Marcel Proust, who based the character of the Princesse de Luxembourg in La Recherche du Temps Perdu on her. The Picture of Dorian Gray was first published in Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, July 1890. The story as published in book-form contains six new chapters, many alterations and much additional matter. Mason 328

Octavo (191 x 125mm). Half-title and title with decorative lettering designed by Charles Ricketts, with the misprint on p.208 (without last blank). Near-contemporary citron three quarter morocco over marbled paper boards, spine with raised bands, green morocco title and author labels gilt, top edge gilt, otherwise untrimmed (corners fractionally rubbed). Provenance: [?] Marie Alice Heine Princess of Monaco (1857-1925; authorial presentation inscription on verso of half title in brown ink: 'To the most Charming of Princesses, with the homage of the author; Oscar Wilde') — 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
4FQ.AYGKAGLUQ@FO3G@
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Conditions of purchaseConditions of purchase

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