Wilde, Oscar; C.3.3. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$130.02 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Hardback, original two tone buckram covered boards. 23 x 14cm. [8], 33pp. 1898 4th edition. Spine age toned. Some small dents to edges of boards and a little soiling to boards. Inside generally clean, aside from a few marginal fingers marks. Binding secure. A nice early edition.
Seller: Besleys Books PBFA, Diss, United Kingdom
C. 3. 3. (Wilde, Oscar). The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$169.02 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: 31pp; label inside with previous owner's name and address sticker plus label; rough-cut page edges; eps. toned, last page and one following have black ink stains to bottom corners; mustard boards with white spine, marks to spine at rear, also tanned, gilt title to spine; edgewear. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Seller: Baggins Book Bazaar Ltd, Rochester, KENT, United Kingdom
C.3.3 [Oscar Wilde]. The Ballad of Reading Gaol (Fifth Edition). Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$195.00 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Fifth Edition [printing], So stated behind the title page. Original two toned cream and mustard yellow cloth. Gilt lettering on the spine. Heavily soiled to the cloth. Front free endapge is cleanly excised (presumably to remove a previous owner's name). Photos available upon request. Overall in FAIR condition. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall
Seller: Ziern-Hanon Galleries, Frontenac, MO, U.S.A.
C.3.3 (Oscar Wilde). The Ballad od Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, 1898.
Price: US$195.03 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: No dustjacket. Boards heavily marked. Bumped/worn on edges/corners. Pencil marks inside. Roughcut edges. Tanning/foxing on textblock & throughout. Text is clear & legible.
Seller: Hay-on-Wye Booksellers, Hay-on-Wye, HEREF, United Kingdom
C.3.3. [Wilde Oscar].. The Ballad of Reading Gaol.. London, Leonard Smithers, 1898.
Price: US$222.31 + shipping
Condition: As New
Description: In-8° (cm. 22), legatura coeva in mezza pergamena con titolo in oro al dorso (lievissime tracce d'uso); cc. [4] 31 [1] su carta greve, in barbe, in ottimo stato. Quinta edizione pubblicata in forma anonima, l'identità dell'autore si rivelò solo dalla settima stampata nel 1899. Distrutto da uno scandalo sessuale e da una condanna a due anni di lavori forzati, Oscar Wilde subì dalla società vittoriana una forte censura: il suo nome venne tolto non solo dai cartelloni dei teatri londinesi, ma anche ai suoi figli. Scelse allora di firmare quest?opera soltanto con la sigla C.3.3., il numero della cella a lui assegnata nel carcere di Reading. Ex libris a timbro al foglio di guardia. Ottimo esemplare. (NX)
Seller: Gabriele Maspero Libri Antichi, Como, Italy
C. 3. 3. (OSCAR WILDE). The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$234.03 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: - Second Edition though lacks the Printed "Second Edition" to the title page verso - Publication date February 1898 to copyright page - Also includes the numerous amendments made to that edition - Oscar Wilde's last work, published pseudonymously using his prisoner designation - Quarter bound in white linen over cinnamon linen boards w/ gilt lettering to spine - Printed on handmade paper w/ deckled edges on one side of the page only - Covers heavily tanned and marked - Lettering to spine faded - Corners and spine ends bumped and crushed - Endpapers toned and stained - Content lightly toned and foxed throughout w/ scratches and marks to some leaves, particularly near the rear - Rear hinge very slightly open but still strong - Book ow/ solid and clean - 31 pages
Seller: Green Ink Booksellers, Hay-on-Wye, United Kingdom
Price: US$250.00 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: 31 pages. ex-General Assembly Library New Zealand with gilt stamp of the library on the front cover and spine.
Seller: Tinakori Books, Lower Hutt, New Zealand
Price: US$260.03 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Quarter white cloth, gilt, (a little soiled), mustard boards. A very good copy. NOT one of the later editions of dubious printed as late as 1907 on laid paper from stereotyped plates after Leonard Smithers' bankruptcy. Wilde's name does not appear upon the title-page untitl the sixth printing.
Seller: Collinge & Clark, London, United Kingdom
Oscar Wilde. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. London Leonard Smithers 1898, 1898.
Price: US$260.03 + shipping
Condition: Good
Description: Fourth edition, or printing, of 1898. Cream linen and mustard coloured cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine. Front board has black markings and is discoloured. Edges are bumped. Spine is faded with a rubbed patch. Pages are age tanned with occasional foxing. Pages are rough cut. Some page discolouration throughout. Some verses have been ticked in pencil. One of the limited editions which were published the same year as the original publication by Wilde, or C.3.3. Previous owner's signature on frontispiece, dated 1898, and the bookplate of Brighton College on fep. Binding is tight.
Seller: Reader's Books, Petworth, United Kingdom
Oscar Wilde. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. London Leonard Smithers 1898, 1898.
Price: US$260.03 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: Fourth edition, or printing, of 1898. Cream linen and mustard coloured cloth boards with gilt lettering to spine, which is almost indecipherable. Front board has large damp patch, with creasings. Rear board is lightle stained. Edges are bumped. Spine is very faded. Pages are age tanned with occasional foxing. Pages are of laid cream paper and are rough cut. Pages are clean. Previous owner's signature facing the copyright page. Binding is tight. 8vo. One of the limited editions which were published the same year as the original publication by Wilde, or C.3.3.
Seller: Reader's Books, Petworth, United Kingdom
Price: US$312.04 + shipping
Description: Second Edition as printed to verso of the title page, 8vo. (230x45mm), pp: viii+1-31,[1], with half title and copyright page preceeding 'Copyright February 1898' , endpapers browned, signed in ink (offset) to front pastedown endpaper 'William Arkqwright', author and best remembered for his book on the Pointer and his Predecessors, published in 1902. Quarter linen backed, cinnamon cloth, worn and marked with contents very good. "Copyright February 1898" Published May 21, 1898. Textual variations match those of the second, fourth and fifth editions. First edition published Feb. 13, 1898. Cf. C.S. Millard. Bibliography of Oscar Wilde.
Seller: Offa's Dyke Books, LUDLOW, SALOP, United Kingdom
Price: US$314.64 + shipping
Description: Hardback, 9 x 5.5 inches. Quarterbound with white cloth spine lettered in gilt, and beige cloth to boards. In generally good condition. Some handling marks and darkening to cover, white cloth on spine browned and darkened. Some minor rubbing to corners. Some tanning and minor spots to endpapers. Some occasional minor marks and spots to pages, edges rough/uncut. Else a very good clean and tight copy. 31pp. Second edition of Wilde?s famous poem.
Seller: PROCTOR / THE ANTIQUE MAP & BOOKSHOP, DORCHESTER, United Kingdom
WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$325.04 + shipping
Description: 8vo, pp. 31, printed on rectos only. Original three-quarter light brown boards, lettered in gilt to (darkened) cream spine. Uncut and partly unopened. Offsetting to endpapers, spine darkened, a small dink to the upper and lower edges of rear board probably caused by being bound in to a parcel of books at some stage. A better than very good copy. Fourth edition. All previous editions were published this same year: the book quickly became a bestseller. Wilde is still identified here as 'C.3.3.', his prison identification number. His name did not appear on any of the first six editions. The poem is dedicated to 'C.T.W'.: in 1896 Charles Thomas Wooldridge was executed at Reading gaol in (where Wilde was also imprisoned) for the murder of his wife.
Seller: Neil Pearson Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Oscar Wilde. The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3.. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$333.46 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Cream linen and mustard colored cloth boards. Spine lettered in gilt. Sixth edition and the last edition to be published under the pseudonym C.3.3. (block C, landing 3, cell 3). This sixth edition was printed on handmade paper in 1,000 copies on 21st of May 1898. Stain on frontcover, endpages with offsetting. Spine darkened. No bookplates, marks or inscriptions. 31 pp., 23 x 14,5 cm.
Seller: Concept Books, Veldhoven, Netherlands
C.3.3. [Wilde, Oscar]. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$350.00 + shipping
Description: âFourth Editionâ stated. Author still anonymous as of this printing. Mustard buckram and quarter cream buckram over spine with gilt titles. Textblock edges uncut.
Seller: La Playa Books, San Diego, CA, U.S.A.
WILDE, Oscar.. The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3. [Oscar Wilde].. Leonard Smithers, London., 1898.
Price: US$357.55 + shipping
Description: Fourth edition. Octavo. 31 leaves, printed on rectos only. Two-tone buckram covers. Published anonymously. It was only after the sixth edition that Wilde's name appeared on the title-page. Covers a little marked. Cloth slightly bubbled. Small rustmark at outer edge of front free endpaper.
Seller: Peter Ellis, Bookseller, ABA, ILAB, London, United Kingdom
[WILDE, Oscar] C. 3. 3.. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3.. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$375.00 + shipping
Description: [8] 31 pp. 8vo, publisher's white and gold cloth, gilt-lettered on the spine. Second edition. Ink ownership name on front free endpaper; endsheets tanned; a very few smudges and spots to text and deckled fore-edges a bit tanned. The original binding is dust-soiled and stained; spine quite tanned; but tight and sound.
Seller: Jeffrey H. Marks, Rare Books, ABAA, Rochester, NY, U.S.A.
Wilde, Oscar C.3.3.. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, 1898.
Price: US$416.83 + shipping
Description: p.p. 1-31. Quarter vellum, mustard cloth. Very early copy, published anonymously
Seller: Healy Rare Books, Galway, Ireland
Wilde, Oscar. The Ballad Of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$450.00 + shipping
Description: 31 pages. 23 x 14 cm. One of a 1000 copies on handmade paper. The last edition to identify the author as "C.3.,3." -- Wilde was imprisoned in cell block C, landing C, Cell 3. This narrative, a tale of Charles Thomas Woodbridge's 1896 execution at Reading for the murder of his wife. Small owner signature free front endpaper, free endpapers toned. Orig. cream cloth and light brown cloth, spine darkened. Very good
Seller: Royoung Bookseller, Inc. ABAA, Ardsley, NY, U.S.A.
WILDE Oscar. THE BALLAD OF READING GAOL. Leonard Smithers, 1898, 1898.
Price: US$455.06 + shipping
Description: 4th edn. 8vo (9 x 5¾ ins). Original gilt lettered cream/tan cloth (spine toned and light marks on boards - otherwise VG). Pp. [vii] + 31 (some pages uncut; endpapers tanned, with bookplate of Morton Burr Stelle on front paste-down).
Seller: Rothwell & Dunworth (ABA, ILAB), Dulverton, United Kingdom
Wilde, Oscar. C.3.3. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$472.41 + shipping
Description: Fourth edition published 4th March 1898. p.p. 1 - 31. Uncut. Quarter white spine, mustard cloth. The first edition of 400 copies, published on the 9th of February sold out in days, as did the second and third editions.
Seller: Healy Rare Books, Galway, Ireland
Wilde, Oscar ("C.3.3."). The Ballad of Reading Gaol By C.3.3.. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Wilde used his prisoner's number as his nom de plume for the early printings. This is a Very Good copy of the "Fourth Edition" (Printing). Tan and cream-coloured binding with gilt titling on the spine. Clean text; 31 pages, text printed only on the recto. There is a contemporary (22 May 1898) previous-owner signature (only three letters) on the front free endpaper. There is a tiny bookseller label (Brentano's, Paris) on the rear paste-down. The paste-downs and free endpapers are typically tanned. The corners are bumped; surfaces soiled; and there is a crease on the rear cover. The spine has darkened but the lettering remains readable. Within this rather used-looking exterior the textblock is wonderfully fresh and bright. A solid copy of this rare edition. Fourth Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/No Jacket. 12mo - over 6¾" - 7¾" tall.
Seller: Quercus Rare Books, Chico, CA, U.S.A.
WILDE, OSCAR (AS C33). The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers 1898, 1898.
Price: US$550.66 + shipping
Description: SECOND EDITION, super octavo, quarter bound ocre & white cloth boards, gilt lettering to spine, deckled page edges, vi+31pp, VG (moderate soiling to boards, childrens pencil scribble by hinges, light bruising to spine extrems & board corners, light tanning to eps, moderate tanning to page edges)
Seller: Hard to Find Books NZ (Internet) Ltd., Dunedin, OTAGO, New Zealand
Price: US$948.96 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 8vo. 31pp. Publisher s quarter cloth spine with mustard coloured cloth to boards. Untrimmed. First edition, first printing. | Corners slightly bumped. Oval circle of light discolouration to upper board. Small chipping to lower spine end. No bookplate, inscriptions or handwritings. A very good copy. One of 800 copies printed on handmade paper. | The finished poem was published by Leonard Smithers 13 February 1898: 800 unnumbered copies on handmade paper and 30 numbered copies on Japanese vellum. Published under the name C.3.3. , which stood for cell block C; landing 3; cell 3. This ensured that Wilde s name by then notorious did not appear on the poem s title page. Wilde s name did not occur on the title page until the 7th printing in June 189. The first edition of 800 copies sold out within a week. A second edition was printed 24 February 1898, 1000 copies also sold well. A third edition of 99 copies signed by author was printed on 17 March 1898. On realease from prison, Wilde immediately left for France and never returned for Ireland and Britain. There he wrote his last work, «The Ballad of Reading Gaol», - a long poem commemorating the harsh rhythms of prison life. Oscar Wilde died at age 46 from meningitis, - at Hotel d Alsace, Saint Germain-des-Pres, Paris, 30 November 1900.
Seller: Antikvariat Bryggen [ILAB, NABF], Skjeberg, Norway
Price: US$1450.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Slim 8vo. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Slim 8vo, [4]. 31pp. Printed on hand-made paper on one side of the page with deckle finish. Original quarter white linen, mustard boards, backstrip lettered in gilt, a very good copy slightly soiled and backstrip lightly tanned.
Seller: Boomer's Books, Weare, NH, U.S.A.
Wilde, Oscar. The Ballad Of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$2100.00 + shipping
Description: 31 pages. 23 x 14 cm. "Of this Edition eight hundred copies have been printed on hand-made paper, and thirty copies on Japanese vellum." The last edition to identify the author as "C.3.,3." -- Wilde was imprisoned in cell block C, landing C, Cell 3. This narrative, a tale of Charles Thomas Woodbridge's 1896 execution at Reading for the murder of his wife. Three small fade spots front cover, and slight crinkling at back cover toward head at fore-edge. Nicks to spine head and foot. Orig. quarter cream and light brown cloth, spine darkened. Very good
Seller: Royoung Bookseller, Inc. ABAA, Ardsley, NY, U.S.A.
C.3.3. [Wilde, Oscar]. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Limited to 800 copies. Very Good. Quarter beige cloth with yellow cloth on the boards, lightly soiled and toned, bumped at the corners, a few air bubbles between the cloth and boards. Bound with some reading wear and a forward lean, foxed and stained at the endpapers, clean otherwise. The first unsigned edition of Wilde's classic poem composed after his release from the titular prison.
Seller: Carpetbagger Books, Woodstock, IL, U.S.A.
[Wilde, Oscar] C. 3. 3. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$2500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: One of 800 copies on handmade Van Gelder paper. A Very Good copy of the book. Spine toned, cloth with some soiling and a previous owner's bookplate on the front paste-down. Minor offsetting to the end papers, otherwise in nice shape internally. Wilde's later work, based on his two years hard labor at Reading Gaol for "gross indecency." Published under the pseudonym "C. 3. 3." for his cell block because the publisher feared having his name on the work would adversely affect sales. The poem is based on a fellow inmate convicted of murdering his wife and generated one of the great lines from Wilde, "Yet each man kills the thing he loves." Wilde continued to revise his plays until his death in 1900, but said that he had lost the joy of writing and would write no other new works. Very Good.
Seller: Whitmore Rare Books, Inc. -- ABAA, ILAB, Pasadena, CA, U.S.A.
WILDE Oscar. Ballad of Reading Gaol. , 1898.
Price: US$3600.00 + shipping
Description: "WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Slim octavo, original half cream cloth with cinnamon cloth boards, uncut. $3600.First edition, one of only 800 copies printed on handmade paper.Inspired by his prison experience and comprised in part by a plea for penal reform, The Ballad of Reading Gaol was the last work Wilde completed before his death in 1900. "In his comedies the miscreants were always pardoned, but in the Ballad, while ultimately forgiven, they are treated vindictively by their fellows, who are equally guilty There is no doubt that Wilde had once again touched a great subject and left his fingerprints on it once read, it is never forgotten" (Ellmann, 532-34). Mason 371. A few pinholes to two preliminary leaves, interior otherwise fine. One tiny inkspot to front cover, spine slightly toned. A handsome, extremely good copy of this scarce first edition."
Seller: Bauman Rare Books, Philadelphia, PA, U.S.A.
WILDE, Oscar.. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3.. London Leonard Smithers, 1898.
Price: US$3932.50 + shipping
Description: First edition, one of 800 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 830; 8vo; ownership inscription to front free endpaper, some age-toning to edges, endpapers browned (as often); publisher's white linen-backed cinnamon cloth, gilt lettering to spine, spine slightly rolled and darkened, light soiling to boards, slight rubbing to corners and spine ends, else very good. First edition, limited to just 800 copies on handmade paper, with a further 30 copies on Japanese Vellum. The poem was composed following Wilde's release from the titular prison and published under the pseudonym 'C.3.3.' after his cell (the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C). Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecency in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. The first edition sold out within a week, resulting in a second edition being published soon after, yet it was not commonly known, until the 7th printing in June 1899, that C.3.3. was actually Wilde. Mason 371.
Seller: Shapero Rare Books, London, United Kingdom
Price: US$4168.29 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading Jail after being convicted of gross indecency and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. Upon his release Wilde had begun writing the poem in exile at the Châlet Bourgevat, Berneval, near Dieppe in the summer of 1897. Smithers sent a final proof to him in Naples on 29 December, and the work was officially published on 13 February, by which time Wilde had returned to Paris. C.3.3. was Wilde's cell number. He noted to the publisher that 'it would be better to publish there without my name. I see that it is my name that terrifies.' After the seventh edition (1899) the publishers added his full name in brackets after C.3.3. on the title page. [Mason 371].
Seller: Ulysses Rare Books Ltd. ABA, ILAB, Dublin , Ireland
WILDE, Oscar.. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3.. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898, 1898.
Price: US$4875.63 + shipping
Description: First and limited edition, one of 800 unnumbered copies printed on handmade paper; a further 30 copies on japon were also issued. Wilde published this work under the pseudonym "C.3.3." after his cell in Reading Gaol (the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C). The first edition sold out rapidly, and a second edition was printed within weeks. Mason 371. Octavo. Original white quarter cloth, spine lettered in gilt, yellow cloth sides, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Bookplate of Douglass Cooper to front pastedown. Spine ends bumped, a little soiling to cloth, endpapers lightly browned and foxed, else a near-fine copy in unusually nice condition.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol by C.3.3. Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$5000.00 + shipping
Description: Slim 8vo, mustard cloth backed in white with gilt lettering. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898. Limited First Edition. One of 800 copies printed on hand-made paper on one side only. Inscribed on title page; "I.O. from F.A.S. Guilsborough Hall." A very good copy with some bubbling of the cloth and light soil. Irene Osgood, later the wife of R.H. Sherard (author of the life of Oscar Wilde) was a novelist. This book was given to her by Sir Frank Athelstane Swettenham, Preserved in an attractive,1/4 leather slipcase with an elaborately gilt spine.
Seller: Argosy Book Store, ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
WILDE, Oscar.. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3.. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898, 1898.
Price: US$12676.64 + shipping
Description: First edition, retaining the understandably rare thin plain jacket. We can trace only three copies complete with their dust jackets in auction records: at Parke-Bernet in 1941, and at Sotheby's in 1975 and 2004. This is one of 800 copies printed on handmade paper; an additional 30 copies were printed on japon. Wilde published this work under the pseudonym "C.3.3." after his cell in Reading Gaol, the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C. The first edition sold out rapidly, and a second edition was printed within weeks. Mason 371. Octavo. Original white quarter cloth, spine lettered in gilt, yellow cloth sides, top edge cut, others uncut. With original unprinted dust jacket. Housed in a custom brown quarter morocco chemise with paper-covered sides and interior patterned in orange and green. Text printed on rectos only. Binding and contents fresh; fragile jacket with chips to spine and fold ends, large section of foot neatly repaired without loss, couple of short closed tears and marks: a fine copy in the very well-preserved jacket.
Seller: Peter Harrington. ABA/ ILAB., London, United Kingdom
Wilde, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol: By C.3.3.. Leonard Smithers, London, 1898.
Price: US$28000.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: Third edition (so stated). Octavo. Half white over purple linen, gilt stamped spine, upper cover with gilt stamped floral design by Charles Ricketts, uncut. Very good. 31 pages. Enclosed in a 1/2 brown morocco slipcase with folding chemise. One of 99 copies, printed March 4, 1898, signed by Wilde in black ink on limitation page, with characteristic paraph to the final "e." Mason #374. Bookplate of Chauncey Lawrence Williams on the front free endpaper and a signed pencil notation by Paul Lemperly noting he received the book from Williams. Williams (1872-1924), former member of Way and Williams, publishers and the F.W. Dodge Corp. With his memorial booklet laid in loose. Lemperly (1858-1939), noted American book collector.
Seller: Houle Rare Books/Autographs/ABAA/PADA, Palm Springs, CA, U.S.A.
Wilde, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3. Leonard Smithers, 1898.
Price: US$30000.00 + shipping
Condition: Fine
Description: SIGNED/LIMITED EDITION. This edition is limited to 99 numbered copies SIGNED by Oscar Wilde. The book is in great shape. The binding is tight, and the boards are crisp with minor wear to the edges. The pages are clean with NO writing marks of bookplates in the book. Overall, an attractive copy SIGNED by the author. We buy Oscar Wilde First Editions.
Seller: Magnum Opus Rare Books, Missoula, MT, U.S.A.