Available Copies from Independent Booksellers
Price: US$50.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: 'Uniform Edition.' 'The Writings of Oscar Wilde.' Illustrated with four full-page b&w drawings, each inset in a square. All four are in excellent condition and are protected by a tissue guard containing a related quote in red print (i.e. " 'Are you mad?' He asked in fright." Or " 'Confess that you are tired of me?' "). I have to confess that I'm having trouble identifying this book in relationship to the others that are for sale. I haven't found a reference to a copy that matches it. There are 556 pages. After the frontispiece ( " 'I order you to go away tomorrow' ") there is a half-title page which identifies Keller-Farmer as the publisher and 1907 as the date of publication. The following title page, light yellow with black and red lettering, also references a copyright in 1907 by A.R. Keller & Co. This book does not appear to be a limited edition. On the spine is printed ' Edition De Luxe '. The top page edge is gilt. The middle and bottom page edges are deckled or rough-cut. You can see the gilt lettering and border with the dark green background on the spine in the second photo. There's a little bit of crinkling and rubbing at the spine ends. There is a little handling soiling on the front cover, and that one bit of lipstick or blood (I order you to go away tomorrow) on the rear cover. Parts of the cover edges have a bit of color fade to white. The two bottom corners have a spot of rub-through. The book is pretty square and the spine is pretty straight. The pages are very nicely and solidly bound from cover to cover. Over parts of the juncture between the front inside cover and front end paper the paper has a thin tear and some webbing is showing, same with the rear cover, but over most of it, though the paper is mostly in place. Both covers have a slight bit of give if you pull at them from the side, but are solidly bound. Both white inside covers and endpapers are clean. That's the case with the pages. The only exception to that is the page listing the illustrations which has a speckling of speck-sized brownish spots. It's not actually soiling, rather some minor reaction to the paper I suppose. You can see it to a smaller extent on a few other pages here and there, pretty inconspicuous. There's very little actual soiling and the pages are fairly bright. I just saw something really odd (never saw this before): The name of the publisher can vaguely be seen at the margins of most of the pages in colorless block letters. What an odd thing for a publisher to do. How much would that add to the value of the book? I'll assume nothing. Be clear that this is not something an owner did, this is the way the book was produced. Finishing up, the pages are in very decent condition. I'm not seeing much by way of creasing, no turned-down corners or placeholder creases. There are no markings. No attachments of any kind. And no one has written their name or anything else anywhere in the book. The book has its own Wikipedia profile: 'an 1884 novel, it tells the story of the orphan Allan who falls in love with his protectress, Mme de Scudemot, who has become indifferent due to erotic excesses in her youth; Allan eventually marries his lover's daughter Camille, but has been smitten by the older woman's indifference. The narrative uses techniques from the Gothic novel and its French counterpart, the "roman frénétique". Written between 1833 and 1836, it was the first full-length novel by d'Aurevilly. An English translation published in 1902, was falsely attributed to Oscar Wilde under his pseudonym Sebastian Melmoth. In his 1967 monograph, 'The Novels and Stories of Barbey D'Aurevilly', Brian G. Rogers wrote "Though liberally sprinkled with youthful errors, the novel is the first full-length work to reflect Barbey's enthusiasm for a world completely dominated by passion, and already his treatment of incipient attraction, passionate love and cold disillusion takes on a characteristic flavour. Here, not a single note rings false."
Seller: Rareeclectic, pound ridge, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$429.94 + shipping
Condition: Fair
Description: 12 volumes from the fine Oxford Edition limited to 250 copies, here copy numbered 41 in each volume. Full calf bindings with rich Art Nouveau decoration are not in good condition, 5 from the twelve have detached front boards, the other rubbed at edges; ex libris without name on inner side of each board; inside all the books in perfect condition, no foxing nor stains, somme books are only partially opened; very good tissue-guarded engraved plates by various artist and with 4 tinted plates by Aubrey Beardsley in Salome. Includes Wilde's works: Salome, The Duchess of Padua, Vera, Lord Arthur, Savile's Crime, A Woman of No Importance, Intentions, De Profundis, Dorian Gray, Lady Windermere's Fan, Epigrams, A House of Pomegranates, and Poems, Essays and Stories by Lady Wilde, Criticisms and Reviews, and a Life of Oscar Wilde. As a whole a very interesting set although incomplete with some bindings in poor condition and only some margin tear due to uncareful opening on pages 5-7 of Epigrams;
Seller: Magnus, Paris, France
Price: US$4250.00 + shipping
Description: Full Description: WILDE, Oscar. The Writings of Oscar Wilde. London and New York: A. R. Keller & Co., 1907. The University Edition of the Uniform Edition. One of 800 numbered copies, this being number 15. Complete in fifteen octavo volumes (8 x 5 1/2 inches; 205 x 140 mm). Illustrated with plates in black and white, each with a descriptive tissue guard. Title and limitation pages on Japanese vellum, printed in black and red, with additional engraved title pages in each volume. Half red morocco over green cloth. Spines stamped and lettered in gilt. Top edges gilt. Marbled endpapers. Spines uniformly a bit darkened. Some minor occasional rubbing, the worst of it to the top edge of "Lady Windemere's Fan." Still a near fine set. The Uniform Edition comprises the Edition De Luxe of 200 copies. the Oxford edition of 250 copies, and the University Edition (present copy) of 800 copies. This very early edition precedes the 1908 Ross edition of Wilde's works, often described as the first collected edition. HBS 68900. $4,250.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.
Oscar Wilde. The Writings. A.R. Keller & Co., Inc, London & New York, 1907.
Price: US$7500.00 + shipping
Condition: Very Good
Description: University Edition. Leather Bound. H: 7 3/4", D: 5 3/4", W: 1 3/4" 15 Volumes. Oscar Wilde, The Writings. university Edition. Bound in 3/4 red morocco and marbled boards with the covers and raised band spines displaying gilt-tooling. This edition is limited to 800 numbered copies of which this is no. 292. Illustrated. London & New York: A.R. Keller & Co., Inc., 1907.
Seller: Imperial Fine Books ABAA, ILAB, New York, NY, U.S.A.
Price: US$11500.00 + shipping
Description: The Writings of Oscar Wilde. Illustrated. London: A. R. Keller & Co., 1907. Edition de Luxe of the Uniform Edition. One of 200 numbered copies, of which this is number 14. Complete in fifteen octavo volumes. (Measures 7 1/4 x 5 in.). Illustrated in black and white, with plates in two states, each with a descriptive tissue guard. Title and limitation pages on Japanese vellum, printed in black and red, with additional engraved title pages in each volume. Finely bound in modern full green levant morocco. Spines tooled and lettered in gilt in compartments, with a red morocco gilt floral inlay, four raised bands, all edges gilt, marbled endpapers. A fine set. This very early edition precedes the 1908 Ross edition of Wilde's works, often described as the first collected edition. HBS 67715. $11,500.
Seller: Heritage Book Shop, ABAA, Beverly Hills, CA, U.S.A.