The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890/1891)
- Lippincott’s Magazine edition (1890) (https://bit.ly/3wdMAFg)
- Book edition (1891) (https://bit.ly/2meTDhj)
GENESIS
“In its pursuit of the finest modern fiction, the J. B. Lippincott Company sent one of its managing editors, J. M. Stoddart, to London in the summer of 1889. Stoddart’s task was to solicit fiction from younger writers who were beginning to make their mark in British periodicals. By the end of his visit, Stoddart agreed contracts with not only Wilde but also Arthur Conan Doyle and Rudyard Kipling …“ (Bristow, Complete Works, vol. III, pp. xvii)
“Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine, for instance, which existed from 1868 until 1914, is remembered for having published original works from Kipling, Jack London, Conan Doyle, Owen Wister, Oscar Wilde, and Turgeniev. Each issue contained a complete novel or novella, together with short stories, scholarly essays, and humor. It was advertised as ‘fresh, clever, original, clean’ (which it generally was).“ (Freeman, p. 103)
“You ask me to try and send you my story ‘early in October’; surely you mean ‘early in November’? If you could be content with 30,000 words, I might be able to post the manuscript to you first week in November, but October is of course out of question.“ (letter to J. M Stoddart, 30 September 1889, Complete Letters, p. 413)
“Dear Sir, I have been very ill for some weeks and have been obliged to give up my literary work – amongst which is a story for Lippincott’s Magazine. I am unable to finish it, and am not satisfied with it as far as it goes. Will you telegraph at once to Mr Stoddart and say the story cannot be ready for some months as I am too ill to do any good work at present.“ (letter to an unidentified correspondent, 19 November 1889, ibid., p. 414)
“Wilde would have appear to have begun writing The Picture of Dorian Gray in the autumn of 1889 …“ (Bristow, Complete Works, vol. III, p. xxxii)
“I am glad to say that I am much better now: it was an attack of malaria, that enervating and wretched malady.
I have invented a new story, which is better than ‘The Fisherman and his Soul,’ and I am quite ready to set to work at once on it. It will be ready by the end of March.“ (letter to J. M. Stoddart, 17 Dec. 1889, Complete Letters p. 416)
“By January 1890 the ‘Current Notes’ columns of Stoddart’s journal reminded readers that ‘Oscar Wilde is at present engaged in writing his first novel for Lippincott’s Magazine.’“ (Bristow, Complete Works, vol. III, p. xxxiii)
“I am so busy I dare not to stare out. Publishers are showing what worms will turn, and the editors of magazines are clamorous – I am a prisoner, and may not lunch except in solitude. But happier, idler days will dawn in June …“ (letter to Aglaia Coronio, ?early 1890, Complete Letters, p. 425)
“Wilde proofed and revised with far more care than critics in the past have acknowledged. The author’s attention to small details belies that imprudent pose of careless genius with which Wilde incited his self-righteous critics.“ (Lawler, 1988, p. XI)
“Altogether clearer is Stoddart’s unwillingness to permit explicit references to Dorian Gray’s illicit relations with women. … Stoddart proceeded to eliminate any mention of female prostitution …“ (Bristow, Complete Works, vol. III, pp. xl and xli)
“… the 1890 edition went through particular kinds of revisions that would ensure that the author’s phrasing, paragraphing, punctuation, and spelling conform with the house style of a literary magazine whose contents, even though they differed slightly in the respective United States and Britain editions, were aimed at a largely American audience.“ (ibid., p. lxii)
“Meanwhile, the typescript discloses that Wilde paid scrupulous attention to refining his prose, ensuring that potentially commonplace phrases would gain the rhetorical dynamism they deserved. … Similarly, Wilde saw fit to elaborate his sentences, adding phrases that intensified the dramatic richness of an episode. … Yet the most substantial additions to the typescript appear at three crucial places where Wilde clearly felt that the narrative needed greater space in which to dwell on significant details [Lord Henry Wotton: ‘the great sins of the world take place in the brain (Chapter II); ‘a new hedonism’ (Chapter III); the numerous paragraphs that Wilde inserted into chapter IX].“ (ibid., pp. xli-xliii)
“Although most of the corrections to the typescript are in Wilde’s hand, J. M. Stoddart at the J. B. Lippincott Company also made a number of significant emendations. It is reasonable to infer that Stoddart … made most of the editorial changes to the typescript. On the first page of the typescript, Stoddart has inserted, in rather faint handwriting: ‘This is the original copy of Dorian Gray. J. M. Stoddart.’ … It is fair to conclude that all of the editorial emendations to the typescript have Wilde’s authority, since no evidence exists to suggest that Wilde refused to accede to any of the changes.“ (ibid., pp. [lxi]-lxii)
“I have just finished my first long story, and I am tired out. I am afraid it is rather like my own life – all conversation and no action. I can’t describe action: my people sit in chairs and chatter.“ (letter to Beatrice Allhusen, early 1890, ibid.)
“Stoddart received Wilde’s typescript in Philadelphia on April 7, 1890 … .“ (Frankel, Dorian Gray, p. 43)
“Stoddart or one of his associates possessed as well the holograph fair-copy manuscript that, earlier in 1890, Wilde had submitted to Miss Dickens’s Typewriting Service, in the Strand, as ‘copy’ for the production of the typescript. We know this because the holograph manuscript … is stamped with the seal of Lippincott’s London agent. Furthermore, in a letter dated June 2, 1890 … Stoddart wrote that he expected the arrival of the holograph manuscript ‘in the next shipment.’ Perhaps, most compelling, when Stoddart was planning in 1906 to issue a new edition of the novel, he intended to base it on this manuscript, which was then in the possession of Stoddart’s friend Ferdinand I. Haber (and which Haber referred to, in his correspondence with Stoddart, as ‘our manuscript’).“ (ibid., pp. 40-41)
“On the 20th of next month there appears in Lippincott’s Magazine a one-volume novel of mine, 50,000 words in length. After three months the copyright reverts to me, and I propose to publish it, with two new chapters, as a novel. I want you to read it, and see if you would like to undertake the publication. I think it will make a sensation.“ (letter to an unidentified publisher, May 1890, Complete Letters, p. 425)
“I think the moral too apparent. When the book is published in a volume I hope to correct this defect.“ (letter to the editor of the Daily Chronicle, 30 June 1890, ibid., p. 435)
“I have read the conclusion of your story as I told you I would.
Perhaps you will pardon my making a suggestion it is for you to determine as to its value. You wisely propose to add to the story so as to counteract any damage may be done by it being always on sale at 1/- as it first appeared in Lippincott.
Could you not make Dorian live longer with the face of the picture transferred to himself, and depict the misery in which he ends his days by suicide or repents and becomes a better character. Lord Henry too goes off the scene very quickly. Could not he also have a little longer and you could make an excellent contrast between the deaths of the two men.
This Is what has occurred to me. It is for you to decide if it is worth anything.“ (letter from George Lock to Oscar Wilde, 7 July 1890, quoted in Mason, Bibliography, p. 105)
“I am charmed that you like Dorian Gray. It is my best piece of work, and I hope to make it still better, when it appears in book form.“ (letter to Arthur Howard Pickering, late July 1890, Complete Letters, p. 443)
“I am making arrangements for a translation of Dorian Gray [most likely into French].“ (letter to Arthur Symons, 1 October 1890, ibid., p. 454)
“Ricketts has just done for me a lovely cover for Dorian Gray – grey pastel-paper with a white black and tiny gold marigolds. When it appears I will send you a copy.“ (letter to Arthur Fish, c. 16 October 1890, ibid., p. 455)
“The first edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray, which amounts to just over 50,000 words, comprises thirteen chapters printed on ninety-eight closely typeset pages. The story appeared as a single (not serialized) work in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine (1868-1914), which went on sale in Britain on 20 June 1890.“ (Bristow, Complete Works, vol. III, pp. xii-xiii)
“By comparison, the second work called The Picture of Dorian Gray, which amounts to approximately 78,000 words, comprises a preface and twenty chapters printed on 337 pages.“ (ibid., p. xix)
“In composing the 1891 edition Wilde not only drafted six fresh chapters but also made many cancellations and insertions on unbound sheets of its predecessors in Lippincott’s Magazine, as a previously unexamined manuscript indicates.“ (ibid., p. xxx)
“It seems safe to say that when he embarked on producing the much longer 1891 edition, Wilde worked from sheets from an unbound offspring of all thirteen chapters that appeared in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine. Four annotated sheets from the offspring have survived [sold at Bonhams, 9 March 2017, lot 26, see below no. 7].“ (ibid., p. lxvi)
“… Wilde devoted considerable attention to refining and elaborating his prose style, and it is probable that his editor Coulson Kernahan advised Wilde on some syntactical revisions.“ (ibid. p. lxvii)
“Manuscript evidence shows that the new chapters were composed as separate items and more or less ‘slotted’ into the Lippincott text, in the manner reminiscent of the addition of stanzas to Reading Goal. Moreover for these new chapters Wilde drew on material, particularly jokes, which he already had to hand. … It is also worth noting that many of the jokes in the new chapters were later reused in Lady Windermere’s Fan and A Woman of No Importance, a strategy which suggests that much of the new material had a free-standing or modular quality to it …“ (Guy and Small, Oscar Wilde’s Profession, pp. 234-5)
“My dear Kernahan, Thank you for your charming letter. I have been very ill and unable to correct my proofs, but have sent them now.
I have changed my mind about correcting the passage about temptation. One can’t pull a work of art about without spoiling it. And after all it is merely Luther’s Pecca Fortiter put dramatically into the lips of a character. Just explain this to Ward & Lock. I am responsible for the book: they are not. If they really feel deeply about it I will try in the revise and invent something else, but don’t tell them I said so. It has bothered me terribly, their suggesting changes, etc. One can’t do it.
The preface will be as it stands in the Fortnightly with a few corrections. I will send it to you tomorrow.
Do you think I should add to the preface the definition of ‘morbid’ and ‘unhealthy’ art I give in the Fortnightly for February. The one on morbidity is really good.
Will you also look after my ‘wills’ and ‘shalls’ in proof. I am Celtic in my use of these words, not English.
As soon as I get the revise, and pass it, the book may go to press, but I must pass it first. This is essential. Please tell them so.“
(letter to Coulson Kernahan, Paris, 7 March 1891, Complete Letters, p. 473)
“My novel is coming out next month in volume form, also a book of essays, so I am hard at work, or should be.“ (letter to Frances Forbes-Robertson, 16 February 1891, ibid., p. 470)
“My novel appears in volume form next month …“ (letter to J. S. Little, 21 March 1891, ibid., p. 475)
“Terrible blunder in book. Coming back specially. Stop all proofs.“ (telegram to Coulson Kernahan, Paris, c. 10 March 1891, Complete Letters, p. 474)
“… Kernahan relates that Wilde sent him this telegram from Paris, arrived at the publisher’s office in a state of theatrical panic and declared that to call the picture framer in chapter 10 ‘Ashton’ would be a crime against art. ‘Ashton is a gentleman’s name, and I’ve given it – God forgive me – to a tradesman! It must be changed to Hubbard. Hubbard positively smells of the tradesman!’ The change was duly made.“ (ibid., p. 474n)
“Your telegrams most welcome – the proposal of alterations really had vexed and worried my nerves to a point beyond bearing.
With regard to the preface, let it stand as in Fortnightly – except, after ‘No artist has ethical sympathies etc.,’ insert ‘No artist is ever morbid. The artist can express everything’ as a separate aphorism. Also in aphorism ‘Those who read the symbol do so at their peril also,’ strike out ‘also’. It is unnecessary. Will you do this for me? I have not got a proof of the preface.“ (letter to Coulson Kernahan, 16 March 1891, ibid., p. 474)
“I should like to see a proof of my preface as I want it to be quite right and to be printed without gaps or asterisks. Would you tell them from me?“ (letter to Coulson Kernahan, mid-March 1891, ibid., p. 475)
“… complete manuscripts of Chapters III, XV, and XVI exist, as do parts of Chapter V. No records in sale or library catalogues suggest that the manuscripts of Chapters XVII and XVIII have ever been in circulation. All of the manuscripts of Wilde’s additional chapters appear to be fair copies of earlier drafts, and in each instance they show that he took pains to revise his work attentively, particularly with regard to eliminate stylistic repetitions.“ (Bristow, Complete Works, vol. III, pp. lxvii-lxviii) – [there are no known typescripts or proof copies of any of the additional chapters]
“Ward, Lock & Co.published the lengthened edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray in small-paper and large-paper issues with the following print-runs: one (in April or May 1891) of 1,000 copies in crown octavo priced 6s., and another (in July 1891) of 250 numbered and signed copies in foolscap quarto made of Van Geldern handmade paper, which sold for 21s. (i.e. a guinea).“ (ibid., p. xxi)
“In any case, the expanded, hard-cover version published by the same Ward, Lock and Company … had a very slow sale, requiring four years to sell out an edition of only 1,000 copies.“ (Lawler, An Enquiry, p. 14)
“It was not until 1895 that a second edition was called for, but the unfortunate trial prevented the success of even a small printing, and the new edition was withdrawn.“ (ibid., p. 18)
“The newspapers seem to me to be written by the prurient for the Philistines. I cannot understand how they can treat Dorian Gray as immoral. My difficulty was to keep the inherent moral subordinate to the artistic and dramatic effect, and it still seems to me that the moral is too obvious.“ (letter to Arthur Conan Doyle, ?April 1891, Complete Letters, p. 478)
“… when it first appeared it was very grossly and foolishly assailed as an immoral book, and I am anxious to have it treated purely from the art-standpoint: from the standpoint of style, plot, construction, psychology, and the like. From this standpoint much, no doubt, may be urged against it.“ (letter to W. L. Courtney, c. 19 May 1891, ibid., p. 481)
NOTES, DRAFTS, MANUSCRIPTS
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Present Location |
Shelfmark |
Provenance |
Catalogue Entries / Notes |
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1. “Pre-existing draft(s) |
unknown |
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“… Wilde copied his holograph text now at the Morgan Library [no. 2] from a pre-existing draft. … the earlier text was more or less a complete draft of the novel as it appears now in the Morgan Library holograph.“ |
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“We may infer from the evidence of the Morgan holograph that the proto-manuscript was a working version of the entire story and was probably heavily corrected and reworked by the author.“ |
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“The manuscript, held at the J. P. Morgan Library, comprises 265 pages whose general state of legibility suggests that it is a fair copy of an earlier draft.“ |
2. Autograph Manuscript 13 chapters 264 leaves [1889-1890] |
The Morgan Library & Museum
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MA 883 digital copy: A facsimile of the complete ms. was published in a Limited Deluxe Edition by SP Books (Édition Saint Pères), EU 2018 |
purchased June 30, 1913, from Eugene Meyer, Jr.
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Brown morocco “At the top of the first page, the name and address ‘ J. B. Lippincott’s Comp, 10 Henrietta St., Covent Garden’ have been inserted in a another hand.“ [Wilde has written on the recto only] |
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“… the holograph manuscript … stamped with the seal of Lippincott’s London agent.“ (Frankel Dorian Gray, p. 43) |
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Facsimile of page 1 of chapter 1 in Mason, Art and Morality, facing p. 120 [around that time in the possession of Christopher Millard/Robert Ross?? – but J. M. Stoddart or his friend Ferdinand Haber actually had the complete manuscript in their possession till it was auctioned off in 1909 and purchased by Eugene Meyer Jr.] |
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“The Clark typescript [no. 3] was prepared from this manuscript.“ |
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“Given that some sections of the manuscript involve very small amounts of correction, it would seem that this document comprises a fair copy of earlier drafts, which have never been found [no. 1].“ |
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“On turning to the manuscript, we quickly apprehend that particular aspects of both the dialogue and the omniscient narration involved considerable amounts of rewriting. First, Wilde paid significant attention to nature of the exchanges that take place between Dorian Gray, Basil Hallward, and Lord Henry … Secondly, he decided to remove some of the short instances of reported speech in French that occur between Dorian Gray and his valet. Thirdly, Wilde proved vigilant in not keeping any wording that might make his narrator sound too didactic.“ |
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Eugene Meyer, Jr. |
“It was bought by J. Sabin for Mr. Eugene Meyer, Jr. for one thousand dollars. The holograph was acquired for the collection of John Pierpont Morgan on June 30, 1913. The source of this information is a letter from Herbert Cahoon, curator of autograph manuscripts for the Morgan Library.“ |
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J. F. Sabin |
see below The New York Times, Dec. 12, 1909, p. 11 |
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Library of Louis J. Haber, part II, Andersons Auction Company, Dec. 7-8, 1909, lot 1776 [part I sold Dec. 1-2, 1909] |
“The original autograph manuscript of this author’s most famous work, ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’ Written on 264 folio sheets, signed by the author in full, ’Oscar Wilde.’ With specially printed title in red and black, and a fine early three-quarters length photograph of the writer (probably executed in America). The manuscript as here presented is bound in a small folio volume in full blown morocco, lettered on the side, by Stikeman. … The author’s corrections are numerous throughout.“ |
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“… collectors were not surprised when $1.000 was paid for it at the Haber sale last week. It was knocked down by J. F. Sabin, who, when asked for whom he acted, declined to say. Some were of the opinion that it was purchased for J. Pierpont Morgan, whom Sabin has often represented at auction sales, but others believed it was bought for an English collector of Wilde items.“ |
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“Original Autograph Manuscript of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ 264 leaves, for., signed. With photograph. Bound in lev. more. Haber, A., Dec. 7, ’09. (1776) $1000.00. (American Book-Prices Current, vol. XVI, 1910, p. 889) |
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“A few Items will show the startling advance in prices since Mr. Haber acquired his collection, for Instance, an Oscar Wilde manuscript of ‘Dorian Gray,’ for which he paid $70, sold for $1000 …“ |
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Ferdinand I. Haber, son of Louis J. Haber |
“Perhaps most compellingly, when Stoddart was planning in 1906 to issue a new edition of the novel, he intended to base it on this manuscript, which was then in the possession of Stoddart’s friend Ferdinand I. Haber (and which Haber referred to, in his correspondence with Stoddart, as ‘our manuscript’).“ |
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J. M. Stoddart |
“Stoddart or one of his associates possessed as well the holograph fair-copy manuscript that, earlier in 1890, Wilde had submitted to Miss Dickens’s Typewriting Service, in the Strand [3, Tavistock Street, Wellington Street], as ‘copy’ for the production of the typescript.“ “Stoddart received Wilde’s typescript in Philadelphia on April 7, 1890 … .“ |
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“Stoddart had the actual MS. of this novel and he sold it a few years before his death, around 1910.“ |
3. Typewritten Manuscript 231 leaves [1890] |
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
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W6721M3 P611 no digital copy |
purchased in December 1933, from A. S. W. Rosenbach |
“Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. “The picture of Dorian Gray. 1890 [Miss Dickens’s Type Writing Office] |
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“[The picture of Dorian Gray] |
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“… on the top sheet of which Stoddart at some point had lightly inscribed, ‘This is the original copy of Dorian Gray, J. M. Stoddart’ …“ |
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“Printer’s copy text … John Marshall Stoddart, the editor, then made his own series of emendations and deletions …“ “The Clark TS shows none of the revisions Wilde made in the text of the Lippincott’s version, suggesting that he did his work for the revised edition on tearsheets.“ |
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“Typescript in 231 leaves, with extensive corrections and emendations in ink and pencil in Wilde’s hand; a few are not in Wilde’s hand. There are six leaves of MS additions to the text (at f. 27 – 1 leaf; at f. 162 – 3 leaves; at f. 164 – 2 leaves). The final page carries Wilde’s signature. Material from the sale catalogue boxed with the MS claims that it formed the copy-text for the Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine publication of novel in 1890.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
“Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach gave $500 for the original signed typescript of Oscar Wilde’s ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ with six leaves in manuscript.“ |
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“The typescript was bought by the dealer A. S. W. Rosenbach for William Andrews Clark in December 1933 …“ |
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The Splendid Library formed by the late Edward Dean Richmond, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Nov. 2-3, 1933, lot 362 |
“ Laid in the volume is an A.L.s. signed with the ‘butterfly’, from James MacNeill Whistler to ‘Dear Mr. Vivian’, 2 pp., 12mo, 21 Cheyne Walk, Chelsea [1890]. The letter relates to the ‘terrible critique’ of Oscar Wilde’s ‘Dorian Gray’, and reads in part: ‘Bring with you the words of welcome. The proof of the whims of the wounded is capital. Have you seen Oscars Ietter in last night’s St. James, also the terrible critique upon his book In the ‘St. James’s of Tuesday or Wednesday?’ From the John D. Stetson, Jr. collection, with bookplate. Accompanying this manuscript is a copy of Lippincott’s Magazine for July, 1890, containing (pp. 1-100) the [with a facsimile of p. 89 of the typewritten manuscript, see frontispiece ] |
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“Typed copy of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ signed, as printed in ‘Lippincott’s Magazine’ for July, 1890, 13 chapters, about 42,000 words, on 231 4to leaves, with about 3,800 words (including 6 leaves in MS., inserted between pp. 27-28, 161-162 and 163-164) in autograph. On margin of first leaf is pencil A.N.S. of J. M. Stoddart: ‘This is the original copy of Dorian Gray.’ Bound, 4to, tooled and inlaid lev. mor., Richmond crest on cover, by Zucker (laid in is A.L.S. of Whistler, bookplate of John B. Stetson,). With a copy of above issue of ‘Lippincott’s Magazine.’ N (362) $500.00“ |
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Edward Dean Richmond |
“By a provision in his will his books and manuscripts are to be sold for the benefit of the Kips Bay Boys Club of New York.“ |
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?A. S. W. Rosenbach |
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Rare Books and Manuscripts, Many of Superlative Importance, Including the Property of a Prominent Pennsylvania Collector, American Art Association, New York, April, 22-24, 1924, lot 851 |
“ Accompanying the above, is an Autograph Letter Signed, with the ‘Butterfly’ from [with a reproduction of part of an autograph manuscript page of chapter XI, p. 208 (1891)] |
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“Typed MS., ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’ Signed, at end. 231 pp., 4to, about 42,000 words, with about 3,800 words, on sheets, inserted between pp. 27-28, 161-162, and 163-164. Pencilled note of attestation by J. M. Stoddart on first page. Bnd. lev. mor., inlaid, in mor. case, by Zucker. With A.L.S. of J. McN. Whistler to ‘Dear Mr Vivian.’ G., April 22, ’24. (851) $800.00.“ |
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??? |
resold by Rosenbach, Sept. 18, 1920 (to ???) |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $670 “Many of these items [of the Stetson sale] – fifty-one of Rosenbach’s purchases at the auction, in fact – were destined for Colonel H. D. Hughes, as is clear from the extensive listing in Rosenbach’s sales records. … Hughes, a collector for Pennsylvania, curiously paid off his sizable balance primarily through daily installments of $100.00.“ |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 47
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“THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. On the margin of the first leaf has been written in pencil: ’This is the original copy of Dorian Gray, J. M. Stoddart,’ and is without doubt the |
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“Author’s typewritten MS. of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ 13 chapters, 231 leaves, signed at the end in full, each leaf mounted on guard, and bound in le. mor, tooled, in lev. case. On the margin of first leaf has been written in pencil: ‘This is the original copy of Dorian Gray. J. M. Stoddart,’ 6 leaves re-written in Wilde’s hand. Stetson, A., April 23, ’20. (47) $670.00.“ |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
“Before being acquired by William Andrews Clark Jr. … in 1933, the typescript was sold at a 1920 auction of Wilde items previously owned by the Wilde Collector John B. Stetson, Jr. The sheer number of items listed alongside the typescript as deriving from J. M Stoddart in the sale catalogue … strongly suggests, that Stetson – like Stoddart, a Philadelphian – acquired the the typescript from Stoddart directly.“ |
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J. M Stoddart |
“Stoddart had the actual MS. of this novel and he sold it a few years before his death, around 1910 [see also no.2].“ |
4. Autograph Manuscript Chapter 3 (1891) 23 pages [1890-1] |
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
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W6721M3 P611 no digital copy |
purchased on 25 May 1923, from A. S. W. Rosenbach |
Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. |
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Facsimile of first page in Mason, Art and Morality, facing p. 152 (https://bit.ly/3rBorZ3). [this could be an indication that the manuscript was in Millard’s / Ross’s hands at the time. There are certain differences between the autograph manuscript and the printed version. So one can assume that the printed version was made either from a corrected autograph manuscript or a corrected typescript of the chapter.] |
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“[The picture of Dorian Gray. Chapter III]. |
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“Chapter III (1891), twenty-three leaves, was bound in green morocco by Wood on inexpensive blue-lined notebook paper with no watermark.“ |
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“Edener suggests that Chapter III was added very late, presumably after the composition of XV and XVI. He claims that since no manuscripts of XVIII and XIX survive [Edener actually talks about Chapter 17 and 18, since Chapter XIII (Lippincott’s) was divided in Chapter 19 and 20], it remains impossible to know if they were written in sequence after XV and XVI. On the basis of Edener’s discussion, it seems fair to speculate that four of the added chapters were written in the following order: XV, XVI, V, and III.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $425 |
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“While he [Rosenbach] had been in England, a telegram had come to the New York office from William Andrews Clark, Jr., asking Rosenbachs to buy for him a considerable group of Oscar Wilde manuscripts offered for sale at the American Art Association [April 1923]. Jerome Brooks was then in charge of the Madison Avenue store .… He dutiful executed Clark’s commissions and obtained all the desired lots.“ |
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Books – Manuscripts – Drawings of Superlative Importance Acquired by or for a Noted Philadelphia Collector, American Art Association, New York, April 16-18, 1923, lot 976 i.e. “Mr Hughes“ |
“ From the John B. Stetson,, Jr., collection with his bookplate.“ |
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“MS., Chapter III of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray.’ About 4600 words, on 23 leaves, fol. Mounted and bnd., lev. mor., g.e., by Wood. From the J. B. Stetson collection. G., April 16, ’23 (976) $425.00.“ |
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Colonel H. D. Hughes |
sold to Hughes, April 30, 1920 |
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“Many of these items [of the Stetson sale] – fifty-one of Rosenbach’s purchases at the auction, in fact – were destined for Colonel H. D. Hughes, as is clear from the extensive listing in Rosenbach’s sales records. … Hughes, a collector for Pennsylvania, curiously paid off his sizable balance primarily through daily installments of $100.00.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $500 |
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“At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr. Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor.“ |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 48 |
“THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. This chapter differs greatly with the printed version and contains many deletions, interpolations, etc.“ |
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“MS. of Chapter 3 of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ 23 pages, fol., Bound in lev.mor. case, by Wood. Stetson, A., April 23, ’20. (48) $500.00.“ |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
bookplate |
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Charles Cannon [Dan Rider] |
purchased for £100 |
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Valuable Books, Autograph Letters and Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 27 July 1911, lot 197 [Subtitle: “A Collection of Autograph Manuscripts, Printed Books, Newspaper Cuttings, &c., By and Relating to Oscar Wilde, the Property of a Gentleman“ – “Lots 195 to 200, and 204 to 212, 214 and 219 uniformly bound in green morocco extra, gilt backs, line sides.“] |
“ [sold for £100 to [Charles] Cannon [Dan Rider], see handwritten note in catalogue] |
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“The Picture of Dorian Gray, chapter iii., MS. on 23 pages, folio, the original manuscript used by the printers (197) Cannon, £100“ |
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$500 |
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Vyvyan Holland |
“Forgive me for having … [?] you. Poor Vyvyan Holland has come a fearful smash [?]. He has been repudiated by his broker & I have had to send him off to Spain, which has made a sudden & unpleasant strain on my resources. The sale at Sothebys which I made early on his behalf was not enough, & he has banked his share of his father’s estate long ago“ |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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Robert Ross |
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5. Autograph Manuscript Chapter 4 (i.e. Chapter 5, 1891) 10 pages [1890-1] |
The Morgan Library & Museum
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MA 3149 no digital copy |
Gift of Warren R. Howell, 1972 |
“Marked in pencil on p. 1 and 9 with names of typesetters. [This manuscript covers only pages 88 – 95 of the 1891 edition by Ward, Lock & Co.. Pages 95-96 see no. 6. Pages 96-106, the end of the chapter, are missing.] |
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Facsimile of first page, see Mason, Bibliography p. 354 (https://bit.ly/31wMspl) |
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Warren R. Howell |
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C. A. Stonehill |
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Catalogue of Valuable Printed Books, Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Autograph Letters, Topographical Drawings of American Interest, Sotheby’s, London, 17-19 Feb. 1936, lot 328 |
“ The first page is reproduced in facsimile in Stuart Mason’s Bibliography, p. 354. The portion of the text included in the manuscript is from the beginning of Ch. V ‘Mother, mother, I am so happy!’ down to the words ‘’Come Sibyl,’ said her brother impatiently. He hated his mother’s affections’ (p. 95 of printed version, first edition).“ [sold to Stonehill for £18, see Sotheby’s price-list] |
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English Literature of the 19th & 20th Centuries, Maggs Bros., no. 607, 1935, item 1315 [library stamp July 3,1935] |
“Autograph manuscript of the First Half of Chapter V (headed ‘Chapter Four’ in the Manuscript, but actually Chapter V of the Printed Book) on 10 pages folio. Written on one side of the paper only, with the author’s corrections and alterations. Boards. Circa 1890 £100 The Manuscript begins at Chapter V: ‘Mother, mother, I am so happy’ (page 88, First Edition), and ends: ‘Come Sibyl, said her brother impatiently. He hated his mother’s affectations’ (page 95).“ |
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English Literature of the 19th & 20th Centuries, Maggs Bros., no. 599, 1934, item 1336 |
“Autograph manuscript of the First Half of Chapter V (headed ‘Chapter Four’ in the Manuscript, but actually Chapter V of the Printed Book) on 10 pages folio. Written on one side of the paper only, with the author’s corrections and alterations. Boards. Circa 1890 £100 The Manuscript begins at Chapter V: ‘Mother, mother, I am so happy’ (page 88, First Edition), and ends: ‘Come, Sibyl, said her brother impatiently. He hated his mother’s affectations’ (page 95).“ |
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Maggs Bros. |
purchased for £18 |
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Catalogue of Valuable Sporting & Other Books, Important Manuscripts, Autograph Letters and Printed Books, Forming Part of the Library of the Comte de Suzannet, Sotheby’s, London, 27 March 1934, lot 254 |
“ The first page is reproduced in facsimile in Stuart Mason’s Bibliography, p.354. The portion of the text included in the manuscript is from the beginning of Chapter V ‘Mother, mother, I am so happy!’ down to the words ‘Come, Sibyl,’ said her brother impatiently. He hated his mother’s affections.’ (p. 95 of printed version, first edition).“ |
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“Dorian Gray, ten leaves of autograph manuscript – £18.“ |
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Comte Alain de Suzannet |
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Maggs Bros. |
purchased at Sotheby’s April 23, 1923 for £68 |
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Valuable Books and Autograph Letters … A Collection of Autograph Manuscripts by Oscar Wilde, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 23-24 April 1923, lot 536 [“All bound in boards, with paper labels on top covers, except where otherwise stated“] |
“The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chap. IV, Auto. MS. on 10 pp. folio, the original manuscript used by the printers, n. d. [1890-1]. One of the chapters inserted when the story was issued in book form; the MSS. of three of the other chapters were sold at Wellington St. [Sotheby’s] in 1911; a reduced facsimile of the first page of this MS. is given by Mr. Stuart Mason, p. 354.“ |
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“The Picture of Dorian Gray, Chap. iv, auto. MS. on 10 pp. folio, the original manuscript used by the printers, n. d. [1890-1], (536), April 23, Sotheby Maggs, £68 [One of the chapters inserted when the story was issued in book form; the MSS. of three of the other chapters were sold at Wellington St. in 1911. A reduced facsimile of the first page of this MS. is given by Mr Stuart Mason, p. 354.]“ |
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“Finally there was a collection of autograph manuscripts of Oscar Wilde, which brought a total of £479. His MS. of The Picture of Dorian Gray realized £68.“ |
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“A collection of twenty-four autograph manuscripts by Oscar Wilde, sold separately, realized £476.“ |
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?Vyvyan Holland |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
Facsimile of first page, see Mason, Bibliography p. 354 (https://bit.ly/31wMspl) [this could be an indication that the manuscript was in Millard’s / Ross’s hands at the time] |
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?Robert Ross |
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6. Autograph Leaf Chapter 5 [1890-1] |
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
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*PR5819 P611 1890 cop. 3 no digital copy |
presented as a gift, February 1957 |
“Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. “Picture of Dorian Gray. Autograph leaf from chapter V. 1891 [this leaf is numbered 11, in Wilde’s hand, beginning: “They went out into the flickering wind-blown sunlight, and strolled down the dreary Euston Road. …“ It is part of no. 5 (see above), beginning on page 95 and ending on page 96] [Christopher Millard’s bookplate] |
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(not in Finzi) |
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“Single autograph leaf with erasures and corrections from Chapter V of the 1891 version, not 1890. Bound with the first edition of work issued separately by Lippincott’s (Philadelphia, 1890).“ |
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“Kapitel 5 der erweiterten Fassung weist im Manuskript nur die Überschrift ‘Chapter Four’ (!) auf.“ |
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William S. Pitcher |
“The page … was formerly in the possession of William S. Pitcher of Marin County, California. Both the manuscript and the copy of the novel were presented as a gift to the Clark Memorial Library in February 1957.“ |
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English Literature from London, Art and other Books, Sold by order of Francis P. Garvan, and Other Collections, Anderson Galleries, New York, May 13-14, 1919, lot 835 |
“The Picture of Dorian Gray, the |
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“‘Picture of Dorian Gray,’ Phila., 1890. 8vo. / Cl. (with a folio leaf of original manuscript of the additions to the 1891 edition in book form). A., May 13, ’19. (835) $42.50.“ |
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Francis P. Garvan |
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Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
bookplate |
7. Proof Sheets of pp. 31-34 (Lippincott’s) beginning of Chapter IV (1890) / Chapter 6 (1891) 2 leaves / 4 pages [1890-1] |
unknown |
[pp. 32-33 see https://bit.ly/3adA8cs] |
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Fine Literary Manuscripts, Bonhams, New York, March 9, 2017, lot 26
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“Two leaves, pp 31-34, from the first appearance of The Picture of Dorian Gray in Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine for July, 1890, with Wilde’s autograph revisions toward the book-version published in April 1891, leaves mildly smudged and thumbed. Housed in olive green levant morocco, gilt, silk doublures and endleaves, padded out with blanks, by Wood, for John B. Stetson,.“ “Provenance: John B. Stetson,, Jr. (bookplate); Anderson Galleries, April 23, 1920 to John C. Tomlinson; Anderson Galleries, January 17-18, 1928; Dr. Noel L. Cortes (b.1907 [d.1975], bookplate and printed description).“ “APPARENTLY THE ONLY SURVIVING PORTION OF THIS IMPORTANT STATE OF REVISION. Four pages excised from Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine extensively corrected, with Wilde’s autograph revisions and additions in the margins. Wilde’s changes closely approximate the text as published by Ward Lock, but still contain a few marked differences, indicating another proof or subsequent copy, now lost. The changes in these pages include several characteristic passages here first introduced …“ estimated price $40,000 – 60,000 sold for $185,000 / £141,482 (see catalogue) [chapter IV (Lippincott’s) changed to chapter 6 (1891, p. 107), with additions, deletions, corrections in Wilde’s hand, see facsimile of two pages, sale catalogue, p. 28] |
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Karpeles Manuscript Library Museums |
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David Karpeles |
David Karpeles gave this ms. to Bonhams for auction (personal communication, 7 Aug. 2020) |
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Noel L. Cortes |
bookplate and printed description |
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1948 |
“… four pages of corrected proof sheets sold in 1948 …“ |
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A Distinguished Library … Part II, City Book Auction, New York, sale no. 262, Jan. 29, 1944, lot 195 |
“Corrected proof sheets of pages 31-4, [London, 1890], 4 pages, 8vo, levant. Apparently corrected proofs of the Lippincott Magazine printing prepared for the book publication. Stetson collection. n (195) $40.“ |
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Selections from the Libraries of Heyward G. Hunter, Doswell, Va, The late William R. Powell, New York City, and Others, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Jan. 23, 1931, lot 223 |
“Proof Sheets of pp. 31-4 of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, from Lippincott’s Magazine, July, 1890. Proof-sheets profusely corrected by Wilde, with added ms. material in the margins. With the J. B. Stetson, Jr. bookplate.“ [text from Rare Book Hub] |
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The Library of the late John C. Tomlinson, Anderson Galleries, New York, January 17-18, 1928, lot 556 |
“Proof Sheets of pp. 31-34, as the work appeared in ‘Lippincott’s Magazine.’ Mounted with linen guards and bound in olive levant morocco, gilt panels on backs and sides, gilt edges, doublures and fly-leaves of pale green moiré silk, by Wood. Facsimile of Wilde’s signature on front cover. |
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“Proof sheets for pp. 31-34 of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ as published in ‘Lippincott’s Magazine.’ |
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John C. Tomlinson |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 35 |
“THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. Mounted with linen guards and bound in full olive levant morocco, gilt fillet panels on back and sides, gilt edges , doublures and flys of pale green moire silk, by Wood. |
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“Proof-sheets of pages 31-34, as the work appeared in ‘Lippincott’s Magazine.’ Lev. mor., tooled, g.e. by Wood (with corrections by Wilde), Stetson, A., April 23, ’20. (35) $125.00.“ sold for $125 / £25 |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
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[?Wilde Collection, March 1914] |
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A Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Works, Bernard Quaritch, no. 316, London, July 1912, item 106 |
“ This portion of the text forms the end of chapter IV and the beginning of chapter VI as they present exist in the novel, and were probably part of the original as published in Lippincott’s Magazine, June, 1890, corrected for the English edition, Chapter V being inserted later from manuscript. Bound in green morocco extra. [1890-91] [£] 35 0 0“ [sold with Wilde collection, March 1914, to ?Rosenbach] |
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Bernard Quaritch |
purchased for £20 10 |
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Valuable Books, Autograph Letters and Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 27 July 1911, lot 212 [Subtitle: “A Collection of Autograph Manuscripts, Printed Books, Newspaper Cuttings, &c., By and Relating to Oscar Wilde, the Property of a Gentleman“ – “Lots 195 to 200, and 204 to 212, 214 and 219 uniformly bound in green morocco extra, gilt backs, line sides.“] |
“ |
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“The Picture of Dorian Gray, 4 pages of text, with numerous corrections and additions in the author’s handwriting (212) Quaritch, £20 10.“ |
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Vyvyan Holland |
“Forgive me for having … [?] you. Poor Vyvyan Holland has come a fearful smash [?]. He has been repudiated by his broker & I have had to send him off to Spain, which has made a sudden & unpleasant strain on my resources. The sale at Sothebys which I made early on his behalf was not enough, & he has banked his share of his father’s estate long ago“ |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
Facsimile of first page, see Mason, Bibliography p. 354 (https://bit.ly/31wMspl) [this could be an indication that the manuscript was in Millard’s / Ross’s hands at the time] |
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Robert Ross |
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8. Autograph Manuscript Chapter 14 (i.e. 15) 17 pages [1890-1] |
Berg Collection
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call no.: no digital copy |
acquired as part of the library of W. T. H. Howe |
“Chapter 14 [i. e. 15] . Holograph n.d. (17 p) Library label of John B. Stetson, Jr.; H.“ [Chapter 15, 1891 version]
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[differences exist between the autograph manuscript and the printed version. One can assume that the printed version was made from a corrected autograph manuscript or typescript] |
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“The manuscript is of lined, unruled paper with a watermark, ‘Towgood’s Superfine,’ on pp. 6-9 and a seated Britannia with crown emblem above with the whole in a oval frame on pp. 1-5. Bookplates reveal that the manuscript had been in the collections of W. T. H. Hour [i.e. Howe] and John B. Stetson, Jr.“ |
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“Kapitel 15 war ‘originally numbered first Chapter Thirteen;’ nachträglich änderte Wilde diese Zahl selbst ab in ’Fourteen’. In Masons Bibliography ist dieses Kapitel nur als ‘chap. xiv.’ aufgeführt.“ “Kapitel 15 wurde vor Kapitel 5 abgefasst. Wildes eigenhändige Abänderung der vorläufigen Kapitelzahl 13 auf 14 ist als Folge der nachträglichen Einfügung von ’Chapter Four’ zu betrachten.“ |
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W. T. H. Howe |
bookplate |
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Books – Manuscripts – Drawings of Superlative Importance Acquired by or for a Noted Philadelphia Collector, American Art Association, New York, April 16-18, 1923, lot 977 i.e. “Mr Hughes“ |
“ The first of the six additional chapters which were added to ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ when it was published in book-form. From the John B. Stetson,, Jr., collection, with his bookplate.“ |
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[not in American Book-Prices Current, vol. XXIX,, 1923 pp. 915-6] |
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Colonel H. D. Hughes |
“For $5700, in September [1920], he [Rosenbach] turned over to Colonel Hughes the richest lot of Wilde manuscripts ever sold, the originals of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and An Ideal Husband, which he had bought for stock.“ |
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“Many of these items [of the Stetson sale] – fifty-one of Rosenbach’s purchases at the auction, in fact – were destined for Colonel H. D. Hughes, as is clear from the extensive listing in Rosenbach’s sales records. … Hughes, a collector for Pennsylvania, curiously paid off his sizable balance primarily through daily installments of $100.00.“ |
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?A. S. W. Rosenbach |
“At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr. Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor.“ |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 49 |
“THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. After the publication of ‘Dorian Gray’ in ‘Lippincott’s Magazine’ in July, 1890, George Lock, of Ward, Lock and Co., wrote to Wilde suggesting the advisability of both Dorian and Lord Henry being made to live longer, and so new chapters were added to the ‘thirteen’ which were originally published.“ |
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“MS. of Chapter 14 of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray,’ 17 pages, fol. Bound in lev. mor. case. Stetson, A., April 23, ’20. (49) $360.00“ |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
bookplate |
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Charles Cannon [Dan Rider] |
purchased for £50 |
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Valuable Books, Autograph Letters and Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 27 July 1911, lot 198 [Subtitle: “A Collection of Autograph Manuscripts, Printed Books, Newspaper Cuttings, &c., By and Relating to Oscar Wilde, the Property of a Gentleman“ – “Lots 195 to 200, and 204 to 212, 214 and 219 uniformly bound in green morocco extra, gilt backs, line sides.“] |
“ sold for £50 to [Charles] Cannon [Dan Rider] (see handwritten note in catalogue) |
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“The Picture of Dorian Gray, chapter xiv., MS. on 15 pages, folio, the original manuscript used by the printers (198) Cannon, £50“ |
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Vyvyan Holland |
“Forgive me for having … [?] you. Poor Vyvyan Holland has come a fearful smash [?]. He has been repudiated by his broker & I have had to send him off to Spain, which has made a sudden & unpleasant strain on my resources. The sale at Sothebys which I made early on his behalf was not enough, & he has banked his share of his father’s estate long ago“ |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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Robert Ross |
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9. Autograph Manuscript Chapter 15 (i.e. 16) 19 pages [1890-1] |
unknown |
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“Da Kapitel 16 im Ms. offenbar als Kapitel 15 bezeichnet ist, muß es ebenfalls vor Kapitel 3 entstanden sein. Die (bei Kapitel 15 nachgewiesene) Unvollständigkeit der diesbezüglichen Angaben in der Bibliography läßt es als möglich erscheinen, daß es unmittelbar nach Kapitel 15 entstanden ist. Vom Inhalt her erscheint dies sogar wahrscheinlich, da das Ende von Kapitel 15 auch im Ms. die unmittelbare Hinführung zum Beginn des Kapitels 16 enthält.“ |
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[Private collector, ?from England] |
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Oscar Wilde, Sotheby’s, London, 29 Oct. 2004, lot 42 |
“Autograph manuscript of a chapter (here numbered Chapter 15, and eventually Chapter 16) of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ drafted by Wilde in black ink with extensive revisions and deletions, the first page bearing the chapter heading and opening paragraph, 19 pages, foolscap, on lined paper, rectos only, mounted on guards in a volume of blank pages of wove paper, green morocco gilt by Henry T. Wood, London, with reproduction of Wilde’s signature in gilt on front cover … … A few pencil annotations in another hand, and the (ink?) staining to the first page suggest that this manuscript may have been used by the printer. … [facsimile of pages 8 and 10 of chapter 16 (p. 280 and p. 281, 1891 edition), beginning with “Adrian Singleton rose up wearily, and followed Dorian to the bar.“ (p 8) and “… his parched mouth with a handkerchief. Dorian walked to the door …“ (p.10), see sale catalogue, p. 62 and p. 64] |
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“The manuscript of one of the chapters added to The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890-1 to turn the version in Lippincott’s Magazine (which itself fetched £5000) into a book was sold for £60,000 to a private collector …“ |
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sold for £72.000 (€103,558) [incl. buyer’s premium] [$132,300 see The New York Times, Oct. 30, 2004, section B, p. 10] |
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John Simpson |
“Autograph manuscript chapter of ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’, 19 pages, 1890. Original autograph manuscript of Chapter 15 [i.e.16] of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray. One of six chapters added for the first book edition). 13 by 8 inches, in morocco gilt by Wood. WITH COPIOUS ADDITIONS AND DELETIONS THROUGHOUT BY WILDE. Opening paragraph stained in ink and lower inner corner remargined. Provenance: Jerome Kem, purchased in 1920, and by descent to Betty Kem Miller. No manuscript material for The Picture of Dorian Gray has appeared since the Stetson Sale in 1920. The novel first appeared in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott’s Magazine, and was scheduled for book publication the following year. In order to make the published book longer, and thus newly interesting to a public that might already have read it in magazine form, Wilde decided to add six additional chapters (nos. 3, 5, 15,16, 17, and 18).“ [with facsimile of autograph page 14, starting with: “Dorian’s arms fell to his side.“ – ending with “‘My god! My God!’ he cried, ’and I would have killed’…’“ (see printed version, 1891 edition, pp. 284-5)] |
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?Rick Gekoski |
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?J. O. Edwards |
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Fine Books and Manuscripts, Sotheby’s, New York, Dec. 4, 1996, lot 203 |
“Property from the Estate of Betty Kern Miller. Autograph manuscript of Chapter 15 [i.e., 16] of the novel The Picture of Dorian Gray, being one of six chapters added by Wilde for the first book edition (London, 1891; Mason 328), after July 7, 1890, 19 leaves Iedger-ruled foolscap (13 x 8 in., 330 x 203 mm), written in black-grey ink on rectos only with numerous additions and deletions; the first leaf bearing the chapter heading and opening paragraph heavily stained in ink (contemporary), lower inner corner remargined, small perforations from brass clasp in upper lefthand corner of each leaf. Mounted on guards and bound by Wood in olive green crushed morocco gilt, facsimile of Wilde’s signature on upper cover, spine lettered gilt, white moire doublures and guards, edges gilt. Spine and upper cover slightly sunned. Evidently Wilde began fortifying the novel from the end, later adding either chapter 3 or 5 as an afterthought. Thus Wilde has numbered the present lot with the chapter heading ’15,’ which appears in the final book version as chapter 16. The chapter describes the putative revenge of James Vane, brother of Sibyl Vane, whom Dorian had spurned some eighteen years earlier. The novel first appeared in the July 1890 issue of Lippincott’s Magazine and was scheduled for book publication the following year. Wilde’s principal concern lay less with the public controversy surrounding the novel than with its long term salability, as the book issue would have to compete with the Lippincott issue that sold for a mere shilling. Wilde devised to enhance the ‘value’ of the book issue by fleshing out the story with six additional chapters (3, 5, 15,16,17, and 18). In response, Wilde’s publisher George Lock suggested lengthening Dorian Gray’s life, and adding a conventional Victorian moral summary at the end. Wilde did augment the novel by adding a few years on Gray’s existence, but stopped short of a moral disquisition on the complexion of evil. As he stated in the preface, ’There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That is all.’ Provenance: John B. Stetson, Jr. (bookplate and sale, Anderson Galleries, 23 April 1920, lot 50) – Jerome Kern – by descent to Betty Kern Miller. $10,000-$15,000.“ [facsimile of autograph page 14, starting with: “Dorian’s arms fell to his side.“ – ending with “‘My god! My God!’ he cried, ’and I would have killed’…’“ (see 1891 edition, pp. 284-5)], see sale catalogue, facing lot 203 ] |
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“According to Whiteman [Bruce Whiteman, head of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library], the [Clark] library waged a “civilized and understated war“ in 1996 for the original manuscript of the ‘Dorian Gray’ chapter but lost out to an unidentified businessman from England. The Clark library was prepared to pay $30,000; the businessman paid $70,000, Whiteman said.“ |
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Betty Kern Miller |
“by descent to Betty Kern Miller“ (see above) |
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Jerome Kern |
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Books – Manuscripts – Drawings of Superlative Importance Acquired by or for a Noted Philadelphia Collector, American Art Association, New York, April 16-18, 1923, lot 978 i.e. “Mr Hughes“ |
“ From the John B. Stetson,, Jr., collection.“ |
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“Some original manuscripts were in the sale, many of them being from the Wilde collection of J. B. Stetson, Jr. … the original MS. of Chapter XV of The Picture of Dorian Gray, $325 (Stetson sale, $400).“ |
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Colonel H. D. Hughes |
“For $5700, in September [1920], he [Rosenbach] turned over to Colonel Hughes the richest lot of Wilde manuscripts ever sold, the originals of The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Importance of Being Earnest, and An Ideal Husband, which he had bought for stock.“ |
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“Many of these items [of the Stetson sale] – fifty-one of Rosenbach’s purchases at the auction, in fact – were destined for Colonel H. D. Hughes, as is clear from the extensive listing in Rosenbach’s sales records. … Hughes, a collector for Pennsylvania, curiously paid off his sizable balance primarily through daily installments of $100.00.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $400 |
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“At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr. Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor.“ |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 50 |
“THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY. This, and the preceding item [Chapter Fourteen] form two of the additional chapters which were written by Wilde to extend the life of Dorian and Lord Henry, and at the same time differentiate between the periodical publication and the book issue. The manuscripts of these two chapters are profusely corrected.“ |
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“MS. of Chapter 15 of The Picture of Dorian Gray. 19 pages, fol. Bound in lev. mor., g.e., by Wood, Stetson, A., April 23. ’20 (50) $400.00.“ |
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John B. Stetson,, Jr. |
loose bookplate |
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A Catalogue of Rare and Valuable Works, Bernard Quaritch, no. 316, London, July 1912, item 107 |
“Original MS. of Chapter XVI of ‘ |
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Bernard Quaritch |
purchased for £40 |
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Valuable Books, Autograph Letters and Illuminated and Other Manuscripts, Sotheby, Wilkinson & Hodge, London, 27 July 1911, lot 199 [Subtitle: “A Collection of Autograph Manuscripts, Printed Books, Newspaper Cuttings, &c., By and Relating to Oscar Wilde, the Property of a Gentleman“ – “Lots 195 to 200, and 204 to 212, 214 and 219 uniformly bound in green morocco extra, gilt backs, line sides.“] |
“ The account of Dorian Gray’s visit to a opium den in the East-end.“ |
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“The Picture of Dorian Gray, chapter xv., MS. on 23 pages, folio, the original manuscript used by the printers (199) Cannon [i.e. Quaritch, see handwritten note in catalogue], £40“ |
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fetched $250 |
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Vyvyan Holland |
“Forgive me for having … [?] you. Poor Vyvyan Holland has come a fearful smash [?]. He has been repudiated by his broker & I have had to send him off to Spain, which has made a sudden & unpleasant strain on my resources. The sale at Sothebys which I made early on his behalf was not enough, & he has banked his share of his father’s estate long ago“ |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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Robert Ross |
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10. Autograph Manuscript Chapter 17 [1890-1] |
unknown |
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“No records in sale or library catalogues suggest that the manuscripts of Chapters XVII and XVIII have ever been in circulation.“ |
11. Autograph Manuscript Chapter 18 [1890-1] |
unknown |
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“No records in sale or library catalogues suggest that the manuscripts of Chapters XVII and XVIII have ever been in circulation.“ |