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Published by Leonard Smithers, 1898
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.
Book First Edition Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. SIGNED/LIMITED EDITION. This edition is limited to 99 numbered copies SIGNED by Oscar Wilde. The book is in great shape. The binding is tight, and the boards are crisp with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with NO writing marks of bookplates in the book. Overall, an attractive copy SIGNED by the author. We buy Oscar Wilde First Editions. Signed by Author(s).
Published by Leonard Smithers, London, 1898
Seller: Houle Rare Books/Autographs/ABAA/PADA, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Book Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. No Jacket. 3rd Edition. Third edition (so stated). Octavo. Half white over purple linen, gilt stamped spine, upper cover with gilt stamped floral design by Charles Ricketts, uncut. Very good. 31 pages. Enclosed in a 1/2 brown morocco slipcase with folding chemise. One of 99 copies, printed March 4, 1898, signed by Wilde in black ink on limitation page, with characteristic paraph to the final "e." Mason #374. Bookplate of Chauncey Lawrence Williams on the front free endpaper and a signed pencil notation by Paul Lemperly noting he received the book from Williams. Williams (1872-1924), former member of Way and Williams, publishers and the F.W. Dodge Corp. With his memorial booklet laid in loose. Lemperly (1858-1939), noted American book collector. Signed by Author(s).
Published by London: Leonard Smithers, 1898, 1898
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
First Edition
First edition, retaining the understandably rare thin plain jacket. We can trace only three copies complete with their dust jackets in auction records: at Parke-Bernet in 1941, and at Sotheby's in 1975 and 2004. This is one of 800 copies printed on handmade paper; an additional 30 copies were printed on japon. Wilde published this work under the pseudonym "C.3.3." after his cell in Reading Gaol, the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C. The first edition sold out rapidly, and a second edition was printed within weeks. Mason 371. Octavo. Original white quarter cloth, spine lettered in gilt, yellow cloth sides, top edge cut, others uncut. With original unprinted dust jacket. Housed in a custom brown quarter morocco chemise with paper-covered sides and interior patterned in orange and green. Text printed on rectos only. Binding and contents fresh; fragile jacket with chips to spine and fold ends, large section of foot neatly repaired without loss, couple of short closed tears and marks: a fine copy in the very well-preserved jacket.
Published by Smithers, London, 1898
Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
First Edition
hardcover. Condition: very good(+). First. Slim 8vo, mustard cloth backed in white with gilt lettering. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Limited First Edition. One of 800 copies printed on hand-made paper on one side only. Inscribed on title page; "I.O. from F.A.S. Guilsborough Hall." A very good copy with some bubbling of the cloth and light soil. Irene Osgood, later the wife of R.H. Sherard (author of the life of Oscar Wilde) was a novelist. This book was given to her by Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham, Preserved in an attractive,1/4 leather slipcase with an elaborately gilt spine.
Published by London: Leonard Smithers, 1898, 1898
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
First Edition
First and limited edition, one of 800 unnumbered copies printed on handmade paper; a further 30 copies on japon were also issued. Wilde published this work under the pseudonym "C.3.3." after his cell in Reading Gaol (the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C). The first edition sold out rapidly, and a second edition was printed within weeks. Mason 371. Octavo. Original white quarter cloth, spine lettered in gilt, yellow cloth sides, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Bookplate of Douglass Cooper to front pastedown. Spine ends bumped, a little soiling to cloth, endpapers lightly browned and foxed, else a near-fine copy in unusually nice condition.
Published by Leonard Smithers, 1898
Seller: Ulysses Rare Books Ltd. ABA, ILAB, Dublin , Ireland
Book
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Limited Edition. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading Jail after being convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. Upon his release Wilde had begun writing the poem in exile at the Châlet Bourgevat, Berneval, near Dieppe in the summer of 1897. Smithers sent a final proof to him in Naples on 29 December, and the work was officially published on 13 February, by which time Wilde had returned to Paris. C.3.3. was Wilde's cell number. He noted to the publisher that 'it would be better to publish there without my name. I see that it is my name that terrifies.' After the seventh edition (1899) the publishers added his full name in brackets after C.3.3. on the title page. [Mason 371].
First edition, one of 800 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 830; 8vo; ownership inscription to front free endpaper, some age-toning to edges, endpapers browned (as often); publisher's white linen-backed cinnamon cloth, gilt lettering to spine, spine slightly rolled and darkened, light soiling to boards, slight rubbing to corners and spine ends, else very good. First edition, limited to just 800 copies on handmade paper, with a further 30 copies on Japanese Vellum. The poem was composed following Wilde's release from the titular prison and published under the pseudonym 'C.3.3.' after his cell (the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C). Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecency in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. The first edition sold out within a week, resulting in a second edition being published soon after, yet it was not commonly known, until the 7th printing in June 1899, that C.3.3. was actually Wilde. Mason 371.
Publication Date: 1898
Seller: Bauman Rare Books, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
First Edition
First Edition. "WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Slim octavo, original half cream cloth with cinnamon cloth boards, uncut. $3600.First edition, one of only 800 copies printed on handmade paper.Inspired by his prison experience and comprised in part by a plea for penal reform, The Ballad of Reading Gaol was the last work Wilde completed before his death in 1900. "In his comedies the miscreants were always pardoned, but in the Ballad, while ultimately forgiven, they are treated vindictively by their fellows, who are equally guilty There is no doubt that Wilde had once again touched a great subject and left his fingerprints on it once read, it is never forgotten" (Ellmann, 532-34). Mason 371. A few pinholes to two preliminary leaves, interior otherwise fine. One tiny inkspot to front cover, spine slightly toned. A handsome, extremely good copy of this scarce first edition.".
Published by Brentano's, New York, 1898
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
First Edition
39 pp. 12mo, publisher's olive cloth decorated in colors; preserved in a custom quarter morocco folding box. First US edition, first printing. Horodisch, pp. 72-75. Cloth lightly rubbed at edges, joints and corners; 1899 private library book label on pastedown; but an attractive, tight and sound copy.
New York, Published by Breantano's, s.d. (1898). In 16 (cm. 16x10), pp. (4)-39-(3), front. a car. rosso-nero, leg. edit. tela con motivi in stile Iznik ai piatti, tit. al dorso, taglio super. dor. Le pagine sono stampate e numerate solo al recto (verso bianco). Questa prima edizione americana del famoso poema di Wilde, pubblicata nello stesso anno della prima edizione britannica di Smithers. non è menzionata in alcuna bibliografia ma è trattata da Horodisch in "Ballad of Reading Goal: A Bibliography di Oscar Wilde, 1954, pagine 72-75". Lievi fioriture sulle sguardie e piccola ombreggiatura al piatto anteriore, ma buon esemplare, con legatura solida e ben conservata e pagine interne pulite.
Published by Leonard Smithers, Royal Arcade London W, 1898
Seller: White Fox Rare Books, ABAA/ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
First Edition
Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 8vo. 23 by 14.5 cm. Blank, colophon, half title leaf, title leaf, dedication leaf, 31 pp. One of 830 copies in first issue, this being one of 800 on hand-made Dutch Van Gelder paper. Published pseudonymously, with C.3.3. standing for WIlde's cell location in the prison. Copy with ownership inscription or autograph of Elliott F. Shepard, the husband of a Vanderbilt heiress (Daughter of William Henry Vanderbilt, and grand-daughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt), who was himself a founder of the New York Bar Association and the owner of a New York newspaper of the day. The cover has a fair amount of soiling, both a bit of grubbiness and some more pronounced, although not large, stains or spots of color loss. Spine gilt lettering still readable but a touch faded. Interior-wise, other than brown impression on free endpapers, the result of the paste used to attach the opposite endpapers to their boards, the copy is clean and attractive. Cloth (quarter white cloth over orange cloth).
Published by Moscow: Knigoizdatel'stvo Skorpion, 1904, 1904
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
First Russian edition, first printing, of this translation by Konstantin Bal'mont (1867-1942), one of the most significant Symbolists of Russia's "Silver Age" of poetry, with the original illustrated wrappers by Modest Durnov (1867-1928). Bal'mont grew up on his family estate to the north-east of Moscow and demonstrated a flair for writing and languages from childhood. His 1901 collection of poems Burning Buildings (Goryashchie zdaniya) made him into a leading figure in the Russian Symbolist movement. He also translated Walt Whitman into Russian. Durnov is perhaps best known as an architect. His unrealised designs for Moscow's Aumont (Omon) Theatre included styling the entrance as the open maw of a dragon, into which the public would pass. He appears to have met Wilde on a trip to London, and the latter became his favourite author. In addition to executing the portrait which graces the wrappers, Durnov also illustrated the 1906 Russian edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray. Sergei Polyakov established Skorpion in 1899, and it quickly became a unifying force in Russian Symbolism, publishing poets such as Gumilev and Belyi. It also focused on publishing translations, including the work of Ibsen and Poe. Bal'mont and Durnov were both heavily involved in the house from the time of its conception. Roznatovskaia 260. Octavo (184 x 120 mm). Uncut in the original illustrated wrappers by Modest Durnov. With 6 pages of publisher's advertisements. Bookseller's stamp and inscription to rear wrapper. Some soiling to the wrappers, tears to spine, some spotting and light toning to the leaves. A very good copy, considering its fragility.
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. Limited to 800 copies. Very Good. Quarter beige cloth with yellow cloth on the boards, lightly soiled and toned, bumped at the corners, a few air bubbles between the cloth and boards. Bound with some reading wear and a forward lean, foxed and stained at the endpapers, clean otherwise. The first unsigned edition of Wilde's classic poem composed after his release from the titular prison.
Published by Leonard Smithers, London, 1898
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
First Edition
Condition: Very Good. First edition. One of 800 copies on handmade Van Gelder paper. A Very Good copy of the book. Spine toned, cloth with some soiling and a previous owner's bookplate on the front paste-down. Minor offsetting to the end papers, otherwise in nice shape internally. Wilde's later work, based on his two years hard labor at Reading Gaol for "gross indecency." Published under the pseudonym "C. 3. 3." for his cell block because the publisher feared having his name on the work would adversely affect sales. The poem is based on a fellow inmate convicted of murdering his wife and generated one of the great lines from Wilde, "Yet each man kills the thing he loves." Wilde continued to revise his plays until his death in 1900, but said that he had lost the joy of writing and would write no other new works. Very Good.
Published by Leipzig: Bernhard Tauchnitz, 1908-10, 1908
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
First Edition
First Tauchnitz editions, first impressions, in handsome continental bindings. The Tauchnitz editions were produced for English-speaking travellers on the continent, who would often replicate the common route of Grand Tours. While Tauchnitz editions are sometimes thought of as piracies, they were in fact authorized editions marketed at such travellers. 6 works, octavo (166 x 120 mm). Contemporary red quarter morocco, marbled paper sides, spines lettered and decorated in gilt, The Happy Prince with additional decoration in blind, top edges gilt, others untrimmed, marbled endpapers, cream silk bookmarkers. A very good set indeed, spines very faintly sunned, extremities rubbed, corners slightly worn and bumped, contents clean and free from marks, a couple of gatherings slightly proud, book blocks remaining firm.
Seller: Librairie Chat, Beijing, China
Condition: Fine. Number of pages: (vii)+31pp Size: tall 8vo.
Soft cover. Condition: Very Good. First Edition. 8vo. One of 800 copies on handmade paper. White lined-backed cinnamon cloth in a later cloth slipcase. Binding lightly soiled. Professionally re-backed. A lovely, clean copy.(Mason 371).
Published by Leonard Smithers, London, 1898
Seller: Royoung Bookseller, Inc. ABAA, Ardsley, NY, U.S.A.
First Edition
Hardcover. First edition. 31 pages. 23 x 14 cm. "Of this Edition eight hundred copies have been printed on hand-made paper, and thirty copies on Japanese vellum." The last edition to identify the author as "C.3.,3." -- Wilde was imprisoned in cell block C, landing C, Cell 3. This narrative, a tale of Charles Thomas Woodbridge's 1896 execution at Reading for the murder of his wife. Three small fade spots front cover, and slight crinkling at back cover toward head at fore-edge. Nicks to spine head and foot. Orig. quarter cream and light brown cloth, spine darkened. Very good.
Decorative Cloth. Condition: Fine-. A superb set of the First Foolscap Octavo Edition (Second Collected Edition) of Wilde's works, in 14 matching publisher's bindings, issued as separate volumes beginning in 1909 (twelve by Methuen, one by Charles Carrington of Paris, and one by John Lane). Publisher's bright green cloth, spines titled in gilt, upper covers with gilt lettering and Charles Rickett's star above the "Great Waters" vignette, top edges gilt, sides uncut, printed on thick wove paper. Contemporary ownership inscription of W. W. S. Escott of Magdalen College [Wilde's college], Oxford, to some volumes. Lord Arthur Savile's Crime (3rd edn., Mason 481`): [6],196pp. Duchess of Padua (2nd edn., Mason 485): vi,[6],183,[1]pp. Poems (10th edn., Mason 491): viii,320pp. Lady Windermere's Fan (3rd edn., Mason 494): [12],157,[1]pp. Woman of No Importance (3rd edn., Mason 497): [12],182,[2]pp. Ideal Husband (5th edn., Mason 503): [12],246pp. Importance of Being Earnest (Alexander Souvenir Edition, Mason 506): x,[6],181,[1]pp. House of Pomegranates (3rd edn., Mason 510): [8],179,[1]pp. Intentions (4th edn., Mason 513): [8],263,[1]pp. De Profundis (14th edn., 516): xv,[1],156pp. Essays and Lectures (2nd edn., Mason 519): xii,244pp. Salomé, La Sainte Courtisane, A Florentine Tragedy (New Edition, Mason 522): xix,[1],180pp. Picture of Dorian Gray (First Carrington Edition, Mason 525): xi,[1],352,[2]pp. Salome . . . with sixteen drawings by Aubrey Beardsley (First John Lane Edition, Mason 527): xxiii,[3],82,[6]pp. Occasional light foxing, very slight spine lean to several volumes, but an exceptionally handsome collection, tightly bound, with bright gilt, crisp and fresh throughout. Offered with a fifteenth volume, bound to match: Anna, Comtesse de Bremont, Oscar Wilde and His Mother : A Memoir (London: Everett & Co, 1911). Text based on limited edition published by Methuen in 1908, with bibliographical notes to reverse of each title page. A fifteenth volume, the Memoir of Oscar Wilde and his Mother by Anna, Comtesse de Bremont, was published in 1911 by Everett & Co. and bound to match. N. B. With few exceptions (always identified), we only stock books in exceptional condition, carefully preserved in archival, removable mylar sleeves. All orders are packaged with care and posted promptly. Satisfaction guaranteed. (Fine Editions Ltd is a member of the Independent Online Booksellers Association, and we subscribe to its codes of ethics.).
Published by Carpathian Press, Berkshire, England, 1999
Seller: Mossback Books, Hartland, MI, U.S.A.
Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Limited Edition. Small quarto in full morocco bound by Anthony Wessely, from an edition of 125, this being #1 of twenty-five. Printed by Andrew Dolinski at the Carpathian Press on mould-made papers, illustrated in 6 full-page wood engravings by Forster depicting 'the macabre ritual of a judicial hanging'. All housed in a fine green cloth slipcase. A rare modern press book as 'only five copies from the entire edition of 125 are recorded in institutions'. ; 4to 11" - 13" tall; 103pp pages.
Published by Methuen & Co.London,Methuen & Co.London, 1925
Seller: Stammerjohann/Birgitta Meise, Hamburg, HAM, Germany
Book First Edition
With Woodcuts by Frans Masereel. London, Methuen & Co. 1924 recte: 1925 . Mit 37 (7 ganzseitigen) Originalholzschnitten von Frans Masereel. Kl.-4°. 57 S., 4 Bl. Schöner handgebundener Halblederband mit goldgeprägtem Rückentitel und Blindprägung auf dem Rücken sowie Kopfgoldschnitt. Im Schuber. -Eins von 50 num. Exemplaren der Vorzugsausgabe,(dieses hat die Nr.37). - Auf Bütten gedruckt für Methuen & Co., London, von der Mandruck A. G. in München.-Erste Ausgabe - Ritter 29 I und v. d. Gabelentz C 47 I kennen diese Vorzugsausgabe nicht. - Schönes Exemplar.- !! Nur auf Anfrage , Lieferung außerhalb der Europäschischen UNION !!.
Published by London: Leonard Smithers, 1898
Seller: Antikvariat Bryggen [ILAB, NABF], Skjeberg, Norway
First Edition
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. 8vo. 31pp. Publisher s quarter cloth spine with mustard coloured cloth to boards. Untrimmed. First edition, first printing. | Corners slightly bumped. Oval circle of light discolouration to upper board. Small chipping to lower spine end. No bookplate, inscriptions or handwritings. A very good copy. One of 800 copies printed on handmade paper. | The finished poem was published by Leonard Smithers 13 February 1898: 800 unnumbered copies on handmade paper and 30 numbered copies on Japanese vellum. Published under the name C.3.3. , which stood for cell block C; landing 3; cell 3. This ensured that Wilde s name by then notorious did not appear on the poem s title page. Wilde s name did not occur on the title page until the 7th printing in June 189. The first edition of 800 copies sold out within a week. A second edition was printed 24 February 1898, 1000 copies also sold well. A third edition of 99 copies signed by author was printed on 17 March 1898. On realease from prison, Wilde immediately left for France and never returned for Ireland and Britain. There he wrote his last work, «The Ballad of Reading Gaol», - a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. Oscar Wilde died at age 46 from meningitis, - at Hotel d Alsace, Saint Germain-des-Pres, Paris, 30 November 1900.
Published by Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, 1921
Seller: Capitol Hill Books, ABAA, Washington, DC, U.S.A.
Signed
Condition: Very Good +. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1921. Fifteenth Edition. Small octavo (17.5cm.); publisher's green cloth, gilt-lettered spine; 320pp. Graham Greene's copy with his ownership signature to front free endpaper, and that of his older brother Raymond Greene in ink below. Light shelfwear to boards; a touch of foxing to endpapers, though pages otherwise unmarked. Overall a Very Good, sound and attractive copy. With Greene's ownership signature "d.d.H. Graham Greene" presumably from his time at Balliol College and of his poorly received book of poetry, Babbling April. Raymond Greene was a doctor and accomplished mountaineer who participated in the fourth British expedition to Mount Everest. Though we know little of young Greene's thoughts on Wilde's poems, his comic play The Return of Mr. Raffles (1974) drew heavily from two historical figures who played an integral role in Wilde's life and subsequent imprisonment: Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bunny" in the play) and his father the Marquess of Queensberry.
Published by London: [Printed by Mandruck A. G., Munich for] Methuen & Co. Ltd., [1924 recte 1925]., 1925
Seller: D & E LAKE LTD. (ABAC/ILAB), Toronto, ON, Canada
8vo. pp. 57, [9]. numerous woodcuts (some full-page) by Frans Masereel. tipped-in bibliographical note. contemporary half morocco, top edge gilt (some light wear, small chip in outer edge of frontis., ownership entry on front blank & 2 bookplates). Limited to 50 numbered copies.
Published by Benj. R. Tucker, New York, 1899
Seller: Lorne Bair Rare Books, ABAA, Winchester, VA, U.S.A.
[Second American Edition]. 12mo (18.5cm.); publisher's two-toned cloth (white over blue), upper cover lettered and ruled in gilt, unadorned spine; [8],44pp. Some minor shelf wear, white portion of cloth binding rather soiled and toned along spine, short closed tear to title page fore-edge not approaching text, old ink spot affecting first few leaves, else interior fine. Very Good and sound overall. Often considered to be the first American edition, this imprint is actually preceded by the Brentano's ca. 1898 edition. This edition was published in two states, one in which the text appears on rectos only, the second (including this copy) printed on rectos and versos: "Both editions, that printed on one side and that printed on both sides, are from the same type. It is therefore clear that they are not.two independent editions, but the one-side issue constitutes merely a kind of de-luxe variety, while the two-sided is a cheaper, popular version of the same edition" (HORODISCH, pp. 76-77). Issued by Benjamin R. Tucker, the noted anarchist publisher and editor of the journal Liberty, in which Tucker published the essay "The Criminal Jailers of Oscar Wilde" in 1895. Tucker and Emma Goldman were two of the few Americans to publicly defend Wilde during his trial (George Haggerty, Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures (2013), p. 52.
Published by London, Leonard Smithers., 1899
Seller: Inanna Rare Books Ltd., Skibbereen, CORK, Ireland
Book First Edition Signed
Later Edition of the First Edition [7th printing of June 1899]. 8°. 31 pages. Original Hardcover (Quarter vellum with mustard boards). Unusually excellent condition with only very minor signs of external wear. Interior also in marvellous condition. Exlibris / Bookplate of film critic Leonie Graetz (Exlibris was made by the artist Hermann Westphal) to the front pastedown. Very Rare in this condition ! The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile either in Berneval-le-Grand or in Dieppe, France, after his release from Reading Gaol (pronounced "redding jail") on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading, after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. During his imprisonment, on Tuesday, 7 July 1896, a hanging took place. Charles Thomas Wooldridge had been a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards. He was convicted of cutting the throat of his wife, Laura Ellen, earlier that year at Clewer, near Windsor. He was aged only 30 when executed. Wilde spent mid-1897 with Robert Ross in Berneval-le-Grand, where he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol. The poem narrates the execution of Wooldridge; it moves from an objective story-telling to symbolic identification with the prisoners as a whole. No attempt is made to assess the justice of the laws which convicted them, but rather the poem highlights the brutalisation of the punishment that all convicts share. Wilde juxtaposes the executed man and himself with the line "Yet each man kills the thing he loves". Wilde too was separated from his wife and sons. He adopted the proletarian ballad form, and suggested it be published in Reynold's Magazine, "because it circulates widely among the criminal classes to which I now belong for once I will be read by my peers a new experience for me". The finished poem was published by Leonard Smithers on February 13, 1898 under the name C.3.3., which stood for cell block C, landing 3, cell 3. This ensured that Wilde's name by then notorious did not appear on the poem's front cover. It was not commonly known, until the 7th printing in June 1899, that C.3.3. was actually Wilde. The first edition, of 800 copies, sold out within a week, and Smithers announced that a second edition would be ready within another week; that was printed on February 24th, in 1000 copies, which also sold well. A third edition, of 99 numbered copies "signed by the author" was printed on March 4th, on the same day a fourth edition of 1200 ordinary copies was printed. A fifth edition of a 1000 copies was printed on March 17th, and a sixth edition was printed in 1000 copies on May 21st, 1898. So far the book's title page had identified the author only as C.3.3., although many reviewers, and of course those who bought the numbered and autographed third edition copies, knew that Wilde was the author, but the seventh edition, printed on June 23, 1899 actually revealed the author's identity, putting the name Oscar Wilde, in square brackets, below the C.3.3. It brought him a small income in his remaining lifetime. The poem consists of 109 stanzas of 6 lines, of 8-6-8-6-8-6 syllables, and rhyming a-b-c-b-d-b. Some stanzas incorporate rhymes within some of all of the 8-syllable lines. The whole poem is grouped into 6 untitled sections of 16, 13, 37, 23, 17 & 3 stanzas. A version with only 63 of the stanzas, divided into 4 sections of 15, 7, 22 & 19 stanzas, and allegedly based on the original draft, was included in the posthumous editions of Wilde's poetry edited by Robert Ross, "for the benefit of reciters and their audiences who have found the entire poem too long for declamation". (Wikipedia) Sprache: english.
Published by O.C. Recht, Munich. [1923], 1923
Seller: Peter Ellis, Bookseller, ABA, ILAB, London, United Kingdom
First Edition Signed
First edition with these illustrations. Octavo. 69 pages. 60 etchings by Rudolf Schlichter, one at the top of each page. Original vellum-backed boards lettered in red on upper cover. Top edge gilt. With red silk bookmark. A member of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement, Schlichter was considered a degenerate artist by the Nazis and banned from exhibiting. The illustrations in this work are quite brutal. Of a total edition of 200 copies this is one of 125 numbered copies signed by the artist beneath the first engraving.Covers rubbed and spotted. Eight pages have spotting. Very good. Scarce.
Published by London. Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1925
Book
Condition: Sehr gut. 57 S. 7 großform. + diverse kleinere Abb. unbeschnittenes Ex. SU am Buchrücken gerissen u. insgesamt gebräunt. Das Buch selbst befindet sich dagegen in einem sehr guten Zustand. Sprache: Deutsch Gewicht in Gramm: 420 gebundene Ausgabe, Halbleinen, SU. This Edition is limited to 450 numbered copies of which this is no. 283.
Published by Methuen & Co. Ltd, London, 1925
Seller: Raptis Rare Books, Palm Beach, FL, U.S.A.
First Edition
First illustrated edition of this rare Wilde title. Royal octavo, original half cloth, illustrated with woodcuts by Frans Masereel. One of 450 numbered copies, this is number 16. Fine in the rare original dust jacket which is in very good condition. "Wildeâ s â theme is not, as is often supposed, artâ s divorce from life, but its inescapable arraignment by experience. His creative works almost always end in unmasking. The hand that adjusts the green carnation suddenly shakes an admonitory finger. While the ultimate virtue in Wildeâ s essays is in make-believe, the denouement of his dramas and narratives is that masks have to go. We must acknowledge what we are. Wilde at least was keen to do so. Though he offered himself as the apostle of pleasure, his created world contains much painâ (Ellmann, xvi).
Published by Drei Masken Verlag, Munich, 1923
Seller: Georg Schneebeli :: Rare Books & Prints, Zürich, Switzerland
Book Signed
Hardcover. Condition: Gut. First edition with wood engravings by Frans Masereel. No. 115 of the limited edition of 250 on laid paper. Signed by Frans Masereel in the imprint. ¶ Description: Original half calf over marbled boards, gilt title to spine. Quarto: 28 × 18,5 cm; pp. 57, [4] ll. With 37 original woodcuts (of which 7 full-page, printed recto only) by Frans Masereel. ¶ Ref.: Ritter: C 29, S. 258; Rodenberg: 448 ¶ Condition: Binding somewhat scuffed at joints and corners and partly faded. Contents clean and free of marks, but slightly toned with age. Overall a very good copy. ¶ Notes: The Ballad of Reading Gaol was printed by Offizin Mandruck in Munich as the 11th Obelisk print with the original English text. The woodcuts were cut by Masereel in early 1923 and were printed from the original woodblocks. In addition to this edition, 70 copies were published, numbered I to LXX, in which the full-page woodcuts were also signed by Masereel, and 20 unnumbered and unsigned copies. ¶. Signatur des Illustrators.