Complete Works of Oscar Wilde: Wilde Oscar (Collins Classics) - Softcover

Wilde, Oscar

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0007144369 ISBN 13: 9780007144365

Publisher: Collins, 2003

Synopsis

The Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde is the only truly complete and authoritative single-volume edition of Oscar Wilde’s works, and is available in both hardback and this paperback edition.

Continuously in print since 1948, the Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde has long been recognised as the most comprehensive and authoritative single-volume collection of Wilde’s texts available, containing his only novel, The Portrait of Dorian Gray, as well as his plays, stories, poems, essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts.

Illustrated with many fascinating photographs, the book includes introductions to each section by Merlin Holland (Oscar’s grandson), Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kiberd and Terence Brown.

Also included is a comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Oscar Wilde, and a chronological table of his life and work.

About this title

From the Back Cover:

Continuously in print since 1948, the 'Collins Complete Works of Oscar Wilde' has long been established as the most comprehensive and authoritative single-volume collection of Wilde's work available, containing his only novel, 'The Picture of Dorian Gray,' as well as his plays, stories, poems, essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts.

This new illustrated edition, specially published to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Wilde's death, incorporates new revisions to the text of 'The Ballard of Reading Gaol.' The book includes introductions to each section by Merlin Holland (Oscar Wilde's grandson), Owen Dudley Edwards, Declan Kiberd and Terence Brown.

Also included is a comprehensive bibliography of works by and about Oscar Wilde, and a chronological table of his life and work.

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on October 16, 1854, in Dublin. His parents were William (afterwards Sir William) Wilde, a renowned ear and eye surgeon, and Jane Francesca Wilde, who, under the name 'Sperenza', wrote political articles for the Young Ireland movement.

Oscar was educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and at Magdalen College, Oxford. He became a leading light of the so-called 'Aesthetic Movement' (satirised by Gilbert and Sullivan in 'Patience') and was recognised as one of the leading wits of the age. Plays such as 'Lady Windermere's Fan' (1893) and 'The Importance of Being Ernest' (1895) established him as the most important contemporary dramatist; other great works included several children's stories, such as 'The Happy Prince and other Tales' (1888), his only novel 'The Portrait of Dorian Gray' (1891), and much important art criticism.

He was imprisoned for homosexuality in 1895, serving his time in Wandsworth Prison and Reading Gaol. His wife obtained legal a separation from him, and he never saw her or his two sons again. On his release in 1987, he settled in France, and died from cerebral meningitis in Paris, in 1900.

About the Author:

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born on the 16th October 1854 and died on the 30th November 1900. He was an Irish playwright, poet, and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest celebrities of his day. Several of his plays continue to be widely performed, especially The Importance of Being Earnest.

Merlin Holland is Oscar Wilde’s only grandson. He is a journalist and the author of ‘The Wilde Album’ and ‘Irish Peacock and Scarlet’ both also published by Fourth Estate.

About this edition

• Publisher: Collins
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0007144369
• ISBN 13: 9780007144365
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 1216