The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde

Leicester: Blitz Editions. Very Good/Very Good. 1990. Hard Cover. Large 8vo 185605070X Dust jacket complete, a little loss to one corner. Original cloth boards with bright gilt titling on spine. Previous owner's book plate and date on f.paste down. 1114 pages clean and tight. The reputation of Oscar Wilde has long rested secure on his sparkling conversation and on his witty comedies of manners such as The Importance of Being Earnest. Recently though, readers have been impressed as well by the charm of his poems and fairytales, the terror and pathos of Dorian Gray and, above all, by the acuteness and originality of his aesthetic judgements. The result has been a wider recognition of Wilde's contribution to literature. In The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde the reader will find the full range of his achievement. In the 1890's London society boasted no more notorious a figure than Oscar Wilde. Celebrated for his dazzling conversation, applauded by theatregoers, praised by the critics and reading public alike, he was famous throughout Europe and the United States. His was the leading voice in the Art-for-Art's Sake school of aesthetics, which might be better termed, for Wilde, the Life-for-Art's Sake school. Not only did he feel that his poetry, plays, tales, critical writings and one novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, should display a commitment to Art, but that the whole of his life should be also an artistic statement. The flamboyance of his speech, mannerisms and appearance all reflected this sensibility. However, while many delighted in Wilde's outrageousness, in certain circles there was simply outrage. Finally, the affair of Lord Alfred Douglas resulted in a frenzy of popular anger and revulsion. If his life had become art, the subsequent trials and ultimate humiliation revealed classic hubris straight our of Greek drama. The anguish felt by Wilde at his fall and degradation became apparent in De Profundis, a long letter written to Alfred Douglas, which is presented here in uncensored form. .