Treasures of the Rare Books Room: Oscar Wilde
Oscar Wilde, a London writer from the late-Victorian period, may be best known for his plays, yet he wrote extensively in other forms as well, for both children and adults. The Krug Rare Books Room includes a small selection of Oscar Wilde works.
In 1916, sixteen years after Wilde’s death, the Cosmopolitan Book Corp. produced the simple handheld volumes The Poems of Oscar Wilde and The Essays of Oscar Wilde.
Each title is stamped in gold on navy bookcloth covers, surrounded by a blind-embossed border. Inside we see purple flysheets, title pages printed with black text and blue imagery, and a note that the decorations and types were “specially designed by Frederic C Goudy,” a famous American type-designer. Poems contains both originals poetry by Wilde and translations he did from other languages, in addition to writings on individual poets and the world of poetry. Essays also includes book reviews, letters, and responses to criticisms of his work.
The Short Stories of Oscar Wilde was produced decades later in 1968 at the Lane Press for the members of the Limited Editions Club in a limited-edition run of 1500 copies. This beautiful, pink-covered book is housed in a matching pink book case and contains illustrations from paintings by James Hill. Our copy is numbered 113 and is signed by the artist.
Our rare copy of Wilde’s only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, is an illustrated first edition from 1910. Etchings are interspersed throughout the text, each accompanied by a translucent protective sheet with descriptive letter-pressed call-out quotations form the text. Colored text may be common today, but the red and black inks together on the title page were a special touch a century ago. The whole book is a reflection of fine books of that time, full of naturally-deckled edges, some of which remain uncut where larger press sheets would have been folded into smaller pages.
This story has been adapted into many forms, including graphic novels, stage and radio plays, film and television. In 1999, the Florentine Opera Company executed the story as an opera, for which we have The Picture of Dorian Gray program autographed by composer Lowell Liebermann.
The story will take on an additional form this month, February 12-21, when Dorian Gray will be performed as a dance by the Milwaukee Public Ballet, choreographed by artistic director Michael Pink.
To view our Oscar Wilde rarities, please contact the Arts, Music and Recreation Room at (414) 286-3071 to schedule an appointment.
~ Mia, Central Fine Arts Librarian