The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Wilde, Oscar

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a classic novel by Oscar Wilde, first published in 1890. It tells the story of a young, handsome man named Dorian Gray, who becomes the subject of a portrait painted by an artist named Basil Hallward. Dorian is introduced to the pleasures of life by his friend, Lord Henry Wotton, who encourages him to pursue beauty and pleasure above all else.

Dorian becomes obsessed with his own youth and beauty, and he wishes that his portrait would age instead of him. His wish is granted, and he remains youthful while his portrait shows the physical and moral decay of his life. As Dorian becomes increasingly depraved, his portrait becomes more and more grotesque, reflecting the ugliness of his soul.

"The Picture of Dorian Gray" is a haunting and thought-provoking novel that explores themes of beauty, morality, and the corrupting influence of society. It remains one of Oscar Wilde's most famous works and is widely regarded as a LGBTQ+ masterpiece of English literature.

First Edition Identification

Ward, Lock published a First UK Edition, First Printing hardcover in 1891, London. The edition is characterized by vellum backed boards. 

Charles Carrington published a First Illustrated Edition, First Printing in 1908, Paris. Finely bound by the Chelsea Bindery in purple morocco, spine lettered and decorated in gilt, raised bands, marbled endpapers, and gilt edges.

John Lane Bodley Head & Dodd Mead published a First Illustrated Edition Thus, First Printing in 1925, US. The edition is bound in cloth boards with 12 full page engravings by Henry Keen. 

Brentano’s published a First US Edition, First Printing in 1906, New York. 

The World Publishing Co., published a Towers-Books-Edition, First Printing in 1944. 

Heritage Press published a First Edition Thus, First Printing hardcover in 1957, New York.

Other Collectible or Notable Editions

The Folio Society published a Limited Edition, First Printing hardcover in 2009, London. Introduction by Simon Callow. Illustrations by Emma Chichester Clark. Cloth blocked with a design by Will Spring.

Amaranthine Books published a Limited Edition, First Edition thus in 2022. It is bound in sparkling green cloth, featuring a hand painted peacock feather with acrylic paint, as well as gold foil stamping and embossing. This edition was created in a limited set of 260 copies. 

Reviews

Review this book!

On Dec 13, 2011, feeney said
Within months of each other appeared two sensational first English novels: THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY and THE LIGHT THAT FAILED. The first was by Irishman Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854 - 1900); the second by Anglo-Indian Joseph Rudyard Kipling (1865 - 1936). Both appeared in the same Philadelphia magazine in 1890. Both were then in 1891 quickly reworked, enlarged and issued as books. Both novels are about London painters, paintings, art and theories of art. Both have been made into excellent feature films. Both novels end tragically for their heroes, respectively pleasure-seeking Dorian Gray and war scenes painter Dick Heldar. *** Oscar Wilde preached that life imitates art, Rudyard Kipling the opposite. For Kipling (who grew up in artistic circles on both his mother's and his father's side) a good painter looked carefully at a scene then painted his memory of it better than what he had actually seen. Much traveled painter Dick Heldar notes that during his months in London he heard more admittedly competent painters talking at parties about painting than he ever saw evidence that they actually worked with canvases. That would have been the fashionable world of Oscar Wilde and his fanatic imitatators. It is, in a nutshell, instructive to read and compare THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY and THE LIGHT THAT FAILED. *** Dorian Gray is 20 at novel's beginning and 38 or older when on Wilde's novel's last page he is found in his locked childhood nursery deformed, hideous and dead, a knife in his heart and with his famous picture once again that of a beautiful, innocent 20-year old, looming in judgment above him. Gray's ten years older Ch. 19) friend Lord Henry Wotton very early on convinces a still innocent Dorian that his youth and beauty are his greatest assets. An agitated Dorian then wishes or prays that his body might remain young while a just completed adoring portrait would both age and display his moral developments -- instead of Dorian himself. Over time the picture and its changes for the worse became Dorian's conscience. *** Dorian got his wish. Despite sporadic, perhaps merely hypocritical efforts to be good, Dorian Gray does heartless deeds. He callously rebuffs Sybil Vane, a young, good, innocent actress who loves him and who then takes poison. Dorian Gray murders his onetime friend and admirer the painter Basil Hallward who created the picture that is Dorian's conscience. Over an 18 year period, Gray alienates most of the ostensbily correct, decent upper class people in London. His friends are always the worse for being his friends. *** At times throughout the novel's 20 chapters, a reader feels as if half the text is non-narrative, given over to philosophizing about morality and art, to discussing aesthetic theories and to giving hints at literary sources behind the decadent nihilism preached by Dorian Gray and his mentor Lord Henry Wotton. This didactic dimension of the novel is well summarized when Dorian Gray tells Lord Henry: "You would sacrifice anybody, Harry, for the sake of an epigram" (Ch. 18). ***THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY is good read. The narrative is undemanding, gothic, realistic, and moves forward, posed tableau following tableau with increasing speed. The didactic half, with its digressions into architecture, decadent French literature, tapestries and priestly vestments and far more demands close attention. The last ten chapters are shorter than the first ten and the pace of the narrative accordingly accelerates. This is above all a novel of conscience, religion, morals and the life of artists. It abounds in epigrams, smart sayings and repartee. -OOO-

Available Copies

The Picture of Dorian Gray (Modern Library, Boni and Liveright, Brodzky, 1919-1925)
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Modern Library, Boni and Liveright, Brodzky, 1919-1925)

by Oscar WIlde

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Used
Published
1919-1925
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Dark green leatherette cover with gilt Modern Library logo on front, gilt titling on spine. Approximately 4 1/4 by 6 1/2 inches. Endpapers with illustrations by Horace Brodzky (from 1919-1925). The first interior page has overall age tanning. The endpapers have some crackling and closed tears (two areas in front, one are in rear). There… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Condition
Used - Very Good ++
Jacket Condition
Very Good
Edition
First Edition Thus 1st Printing
Published
1925
Binding
Cloth
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Northampton, Northamptonshire, GBR
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USA: John Lane Bodley Head/Dodd Mead, 1925. First Edition Thus 1st Printing. Cloth. Very Good ++/Very Good. 16mo - over 5¾" - 6¾" tall. 1st Edition Thus 1925. A new illustrated edition with twelve full page engravings by Henry Keen. Printed at simultaneously and in the same format as the UK version. Book is very good++ and… Read more about this item
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The Picture Of Dorian Gray

The Picture Of Dorian Gray

by Wilde, Oscar

Condition
Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
Good-
Edition
First Edition Thus
Published
1944
Binding
Hardcover
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1
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Salem, Oregon, USA
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Oscar Wilde. THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. 1944 Books, Inc., NY First Printing, December, 1944 in its original dust jacket. RARE THUS. Victorian Horror/Fantasy novel. USED. VG Condition/ Good- dust jacket. Jacket is missing the bottom half of its spine. Front cover illustration of a beautiful young aristocratic man and a large green face of the hideous, debauched monster he… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar WIlde

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Used - Good
Edition
Modern Library
Published
Circa 1919
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MADISON, Wisconsin, USA
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Leatherette - text appears clean and unmarked, binding is square and tight, dark green leatherette covers with gilt lettering are clean but for minor wear mostly to head and tail of spine and some very light scratches and rubbing to back cover -- Dependable seller since 1994, daily shipping with tracking from our brick and mortar store in Madison, Wisconsin.
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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY
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THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

by WILDE, OSCAR.

Condition
Used - Almost No Wear
Jacket Condition
No Dust Jacket
Edition
Limited Edition
Published
1930
Binding
Hardcover
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Prairie Village, Kansas, USA
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New York: Horace Liveright, 1930. This edition is limited to 1500 copies for sale. This is #1101. Eight full-page color illustrations with captioned tissue-guards by Majeska. Frontispiece is SIGNED BY THE ARTIST.282pp. some unopened. Housed in a custom slipcase with almost no wear. Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. The short novella version of the book was… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

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New
Published
pp. 304
Binding
Hardback
ISBN 10
0141442468
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Penguin Books , pp. 304 . Hardback. New.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Original screenplay for the 1945 film)
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Original screenplay for the 1945 film)

by Oscar Wilde (novel); Albert Lewin (director, screenwriter); Hurd Hatfield, Angela Lansbury, Lowell Gilmore, Donna Reed, George Sanders (starring)

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Used
Published
1943
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Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1943. Draft script for the 1945 film. Copy belonging to an unknown crew member, with their manuscript annotations in pencil on several pages. Based on the 1890 novel by Oscar Wilde, about a man whose portrait magically takes on the ability to absorb the sins of his debauched life while he remains… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

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Used - Very Good ++
Edition
New Edition
Published
1905
Binding
Cloth
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UK: Charles Carrington, 1905. New Edition . Cloth. Very Good ++. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall. New Edition Paris 1905. New publication in this edition and un-common. Book is very good++ with quite bright boards. Edges lightly rubbed. Clean contents. Endpapers foxed. More images can be taken upon request.Ref17358
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$774.84
THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY

by Oscar Wilde

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Used
Edition
First Edition Thus; First Printing
Published
1957
Binding
Hardcover
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Pomona, New York, USA
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New York: Heritage Press. 1957. First Edition Thus; First Printing. Hardcover. Very Good+ in a Very Good+ slipcase. Light fading along slipcase panel edges. Light spotting on spine. Illustrations by Lucille Corcos. .
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The Picture Of Dorian Gray - The Importance Of Being Earnest: Two Books in One Volume

The Picture Of Dorian Gray - The Importance Of Being Earnest: Two Books in One Volume

by Oscar Wilde

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Used - Very Good
Jacket Condition
No Dust Jacket
Published
1986
Binding
ISBN 10
8440114176
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Newtown, New South Wales, AUS
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Spain: SAPE, 1986 254 pages. The cover has a little wear. The pages are moderately, but evenly tanned. Books listed here are not stored at the shop. Please contact us if you want to pick up a book from Newtown.. Hardcover. Very Good/No Dust Jacket.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Wilde, Oscar

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Used - Near fine
Edition
First Edition
Published
1891
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Hardcover
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London: Ward, Locke, & Co., 1891. First Edition. Hardcover. Near fine. Deep forest green morocco, gilt decorated spine and gilt-ruled boards; marbled endpapers, gilt dentelles, all edges gilt, binding near fine. No fading or browning to the spine. The color is uniform and the morocco boards are completely fresh and flexible. Contents near fine, the… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Modern Library Classics)

by Wilde, Oscar

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ISBN 10
0375751513
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Modern Library. Used - Good. Good condition. A copy that has been read but remains intact. May contain markings such as bookplates, stamps, limited notes and highlighting, or a few light stains.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Penguin Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

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Paperback
ISBN 10
0141439572
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Penguin. Paperback. Used; Good. Simply Brit – welcome to our online used book store, where affordability meets great quality. Dive into a world of captivating reads without breaking the bank. We take pride in offering a wide selection of used books, from classics to hidden gems, ensuring there’s something for every literary palate. All orders are shipped within… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Vintage Classics)

by Oscar Wilde

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Used; Good
Published
08/02/2007
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Paperback
ISBN 10
0099511142
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London, Greater London, GBR
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Vintage Classics, 08/02/2007. Paperback. Used; Good. **WE SHIP WITHIN 24 HRS FROM LONDON, UK, 98% OF OUR ORDERS ARE RECEIVED WITHIN 7-10 DAYS. We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Complete Short Stories; De Profundis; Poems; The Importance of Being Earnest & Other Plays (Treasury of World Masterpieces)

The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Complete Short Stories; De Profundis; Poems; The Importance of Being Earnest & Other Plays (Treasury of World Masterpieces)

by Oscar Wilde

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Used - Very Good+
Published
1983
ISBN 10
0706418824
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WESTBANK, British Columbia, CAN
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Treasury Of World Masterpieces-Complete and Unabridged- The Picture of Dorian Gray; The Complete Short Stories; De Profundis; Poems; The Importance of Being Earnest and Other Plays (Single Volume)Tight, clean and unmarked-Very good, no dust jacket. 784pp. 8vo. Midnight blue faux leather, with gilt titles, decoration stamped to front and spine. Gilt edges. Marbled endpapers. Clean, tight, bright, solid. Octopus Books,… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Wilde, Oscar

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Used
Published
1991
Binding
Paperback
ISBN 10
0192815539
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Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN
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used like new paperback
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Condition
Used - Fair
Published
2003
Binding
Trade Paperback
ISBN 10
0141439572
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Bridgetown, Nova Scotia, CAN
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Penguin Books, 2003. Trade Paperback. Fair.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray.
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The Picture of Dorian Gray.

by Oscar Wilde

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Used
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Dorchester, Dorset, GBR
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Folio Society. 2009 1st edition. Size 9 x 6.25 inches. Bound in full black cloth with pictorial design by Emma Chichester Clark. Black hard card slip case. In very good condition with a good slip case. (SC Lightly sunned one lower board edge, with a few small speckled dots lower edge.) A very clean and tight copy. 214pp. Illustrated… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Three original photographs from the 1945 film)
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The Picture of Dorian Gray (Three original photographs from the 1945 film)

by Oscar Wilde (novel); Albert Lewin (director, screenwriter); Hurd Hatfield, Angela Lansbury, Lowell Gilmore, Donna Reed, George Sanders (starring)

Condition
Used
Published
1945
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1
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Baltimore, Maryland, USA
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Beverly Hills, CA: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer [MGM], 1945. Three vintage reference photographs from the 1945 film. One photograph with a mimeo snipe on the verso. Based on the 1890 novel by Oscar Wilde, about a man whose portrait magically takes on the ability to absorb the sins of his debauched life while he remains unaged. Nominated for three Academy… Read more about this item
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The Picture of Dorian Gray

by Oscar Wilde

Condition
Used - Acceptable
Published
2004
Binding
Hardcover
ISBN 10
1407566067
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Seattle, Washington, USA
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Easton Press, 2004. Hardcover. Acceptable. Readable copy. Pages may have considerable notes/highlighting. ~ ThriftBooks: Read More, Spend Less.Dust jacket quality is not guaranteed.
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