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The Library of a Deceased Irish Collector
Lot 232

WILDE (OSCAR)
The Happy Prince and Other Tales, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 59 OF 75 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER, David Nutt, 1888

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £6,875 inc. premium

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WILDE (OSCAR)

The Happy Prince and Other Tales, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 59 OF 75 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR AND PUBLISHER, title-page in red and black, 3 plates by Walter Crane (each in black and brown state), head- and tail-pieces and decorations by Jacomb Hood, the plates and head- and tail-pieces on thin rice paper and mounted, untrimmed in publisher's Japanese vellum over bevelled boards, upper cover with a vignette by Hood and the title lettered in red, light overall soiling, endpapers foxed (rear one cracked at hinge), preserved in light purple cloth chemise and dark purple morocco-backed slipcase [Mason 314; 'Oscar Wilde. A Collection', Bernard Shapero catalogue, 1989, 13], 4to, David Nutt, 1888

Footnotes

ONE OF THE 75 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY WILDE AND NUTT. A very good copy of the collection of children's stories which brought Wilde literary recognition: "His reputation as an author dated from the publication of The Happy Prince and Other Tales... Wilde presents the stories like sacraments of a lost faith... Their occasional social satire is subordinated to a sadness unusual in fairy tales" (Richard Ellmann, Oscar Wilde, p.282). The title story, the short tale of a metal statue who befriends a migratory bird, is the best known but also included are 'The Nightingale and the Rose', 'The Selfish Giant', 'The Devoted Friend' and 'The Remarkable Rocket'.

Provenance: David and Lulu Borowitz, book label in chemise; their sale at Sotheby's, 9 November 1977, lot 267; Oscar Wilde. A Collection, Bernard Shapero catalogue, 1989, number 13; J.O. Edwards, book label in chemise.

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