WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900). Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime & Other Stories . London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., 1891. Presentation copy of the first edition, inscribed by Wilde in the month of publication: ‘Percy / from his / friend / the author. / July. 91.’ Although we cannot know for certain the identity of ‘Percy’, it is possible that the recipient of this copy is Lord Percy Douglas (1868-1920), later the 10th Marquess of Queensberry, and the brother of Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie). The only other Percy with whom Wilde was known to be acquainted was an otherwise unidentified teenage boy that he did not meet until the summer of 1894. It is unclear when Percy Douglas first met the author, but the present inscription suggests that they may have been introduced shortly after Bosie first encountered Wilde in June 1891. It is conceivable that Percy received this copy on the same occasion that Bosie received a copy of Thomson’s poems and The Picture of Dorian Gray , both similarly inscribed by Wilde ‘from his friend’ and dated ‘July. 91.’ Percy was to prove a firm friend to Wilde, accompanying him to his trial in 1895 and afterwards providing half of his bail out of loyalty to his brother and in defiance of his father. One of 2000 copies printed. RBH/ABPC record no presentation copy of this work at auction since 1945. Mason 345. Octavo (176 x 115mm). (Faint spotting at beginning and end.) Original salmon-coloured boards printed in dark red with lettering and design by Charles Ricketts (spine darkened, some wear and faint marks).
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900). Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime & Other Stories . London: James R. Osgood, McIlvaine and Co., 1891. Presentation copy of the first edition, inscribed by Wilde in the month of publication: ‘Percy / from his / friend / the author. / July. 91.’ Although we cannot know for certain the identity of ‘Percy’, it is possible that the recipient of this copy is Lord Percy Douglas (1868-1920), later the 10th Marquess of Queensberry, and the brother of Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas (Bosie). The only other Percy with whom Wilde was known to be acquainted was an otherwise unidentified teenage boy that he did not meet until the summer of 1894. It is unclear when Percy Douglas first met the author, but the present inscription suggests that they may have been introduced shortly after Bosie first encountered Wilde in June 1891. It is conceivable that Percy received this copy on the same occasion that Bosie received a copy of Thomson’s poems and The Picture of Dorian Gray , both similarly inscribed by Wilde ‘from his friend’ and dated ‘July. 91.’ Percy was to prove a firm friend to Wilde, accompanying him to his trial in 1895 and afterwards providing half of his bail out of loyalty to his brother and in defiance of his father. One of 2000 copies printed. RBH/ABPC record no presentation copy of this work at auction since 1945. Mason 345. Octavo (176 x 115mm). (Faint spotting at beginning and end.) Original salmon-coloured boards printed in dark red with lettering and design by Charles Ricketts (spine darkened, some wear and faint marks).
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