The Happy Prince & Other Stories: 105 (Macmillan Collector's Library, 105) - Hardcover

Wilde, Oscar

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 150982782X ISBN 13: 9781509827824

Publisher: Macmillan Collector's Library, 2017

Synopsis

The richness of Oscar Wilde's way with words and ideas is given full range in this sparkling collection of short stories written between 1887 and 1891.

From the comic tales of The Canterville Ghost and Lord Arthur Savile's Crime to the marvelous fairy stories and fantasies of The Selfish Giant, The Happy Prince and The Star Child, we are treated to the extravagance and dexterity of Wilde's exceptional wit, in stories that will appeal to both adults and children.

Beautifully illustrated by Charles Robinson and Walter Crane, this Macmillan Collector's Library edition of The Happy Prince & Other Stories also features an afterword by author David Stuart Davies.

Designed to appeal to the booklover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautiful gift editions of much loved classic titles. Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

About this title

About the Authors

Oscar Fingal O'Flaherty Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He studied at Trinity College Dublin and then at Magdalen College Oxford where he started the cult of 'Aestheticism', which involves making an art of life. Following his marriage to Constance Lloyd in 1884, he published several books of stories ostensibly for children and one novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891).

Wilde's first success as a playwright was with Lady Windemere's Fan in 1892. He followed this up with A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest, all performed on the London stage between 1892 and 1895. However Wilde's homosexual relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas was exposed by the young man's father, the Marquis of Queensbury. Wilde brought a libel suit against Queensbury but lost and was sentenced to two year's imprisonment. He was released in 1897 and fled to France where he died a broken man in 1900.

David Stuart Davies is an author, playwright and editor and is regarded as an authority on Sherlock Holmes. His fiction includes novels featuring his wartime detective Johnny Hawke and several Sherlock Holmes novels - including Sherlock Holmes and the Devil's Promise. He is a committee member of the Crime Writers' Association, editing their monthly publication, Red Herrings, and is a Fellow of the Royal Literary Fund.

From the Back Cover

Designed to appeal to the book lover, the Macmillan Collector's Library is a series of beautifully bound pocket-sized gift editions of much loved classic titles. Bound in real cloth, printed on high quality paper, and featuring ribbon markers and gilt edges, Macmillan Collector's Library are books to love and treasure.

The richness of Oscar Wilde's way with words and ideas are given full range in this sparkling collection of short stories written between 1887 and 1891. There are ghost stories, moral tales, detective fiction and, above all, fairy stories here to delight and entertain. From the comically unsuccessful and unhappy spook in 'The Canterville Ghost' to the incompetent would-be murderer in 'Lord Arthur Saville's Crime' we are treated to the extravagance and dexterity of Wilde's wit. However it is particularly in the fairy stories that we see the brilliance of Wilde's vision of society and human action, with each tale having both beauty and simplicity while at the same time exploring complex moral issues. The challenge and pleasure of Wilde's short stories is the simultaneous appeal to both child and adult with their themes of Love, Truth and Sacrifice which are as relevant today as they were when they were written.

Edition details

• Publisher: Macmillan Collector's Library
• Publication date: 2017
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 150982782X
• ISBN 13: 9781509827824
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 304