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The Library of a Deceased Irish Collector
Lot 236

WILDE (OSCAR)
The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by the Author of Lady Windermere's Fan, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 76 OF 100 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, Leoanard Smithers, 1899

24 June 2015, 11:00 BST
London, Knightsbridge

Sold for £17,500 inc. premium

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WILDE (OSCAR)

The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Comedy for Serious People by the Author of Lady Windermere's Fan, FIRST EDITION, NUMBER 76 OF 100 LARGE PAPER COPIES SIGNED BY THE AUTHOR, untrimmed in publisher's light violet cloth with gilt ornaments designed by Charles Shannon, spine slightly faded, free endpapers browned, preserved in green cloth solander box with morocco spine label [Mason 382; 'Oscar Wilde. A Collection', Bernard Shapero catalogue, 1989, 56], 4to, Leoanard Smithers, 1899

Footnotes

WILDE'S GREATEST TRIUMPH: A FINE COPY OF THE SIGNED LARGE PAPER ISSUE. The Importance of Being Earnest opened to great acclaim on Valentine's Day 1895 but was withdrawn after Wilde's failed libel suit against Lord Queensbury led to his arrest. Because of the disgrace the play was not published in book form by Smithers until February 1899, after Wilde's release from prison.

Provenance: Llewellyn Wright, book label; Oscar Wilde. A Collection, Bernard Shapero catalogue, 1989, number 56; J.O. Edwards, book label.

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