The Ballad of Reading Gaol by [Wilde, Oscar] C. 3. 3 - 1898

London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. First edition. Fine. One of 800 copies on handmade Van Gelder paper. A Fine copy without the fading or soiling typical of this book. Pages unopened. Housed in a custom case and chemise. 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. An excellent copy, housed in a handsome slipcase with chemise. Fine.