True Function Value Criticism Remarks by Wilde Oscar (1 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. Three-quarter purple morocco and cloth. Large octavo. 1036pp. Bound volume containing 6 issues of this important monthly journal edited by James Knowles. The issues are bound without their covers. The July and September issues contain the first published version of Oscar Wilde's essay The Critic as Artist from his 1891 book "Intentions" appearing here under the title "The True Function and Value of Criticism: With Some Remarks on the Importance of Doing Nothing: A Dialogue". This essay is in the form of a modern Socratic dialogue between the characters Gilbert and Ernest which probes the nature of criticism and the arts. It is 48 pages long. Also included in this volume is an article by Knowles on the renovation of Westminster Abbey with two colored lithographs, and other work by authors including John Pope Hennessy, Earl Grey, W.E. Gladstone and Maurice Hewlett. An attractively bound volume containing a scarce Wilde first appearance. The binding is in good condition with some rubbing and wear to the leather and cloth. The front hinge has some wear but the binding is firm. The rear cover cloth is quite faded. This volume is ex-library but the only markings are a library bookplate on the rear inside cover, two small oval blindstamps to the first few pages and a small ink date to the title page. The front inside cover has the early bookplate of John Edward Ward. The text is in very good, clean condition with no chips or tears. Foreign postage extra on this heavy volume.