Wilde, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol, done into a Book by The Roycrofters at their Shop (Limited Edition). The Roycrofters, East Aurora, NY, 1905.

Price: US$695.00 + shipping

Condition: Fine

Description: Slim short 8vo size, unpaginated. Limited, numbered Roycroft edition, this copy #75/100, and signed by the founder of the Roycroft community, Elbert Hubbard. Roycroft was a community of artists and craftsmen which was pivotal in the turn of the century Arts and Crafts movement, and their craftsmanship and attention to detail is evident in this beautifully luxuriious publication: 3/4 bound in beige leather ruled in gilt, over buffed marbled vellum covered boards, hubbed spine with all compartments gilt, with top edge also gilt. The text is printed on Japan Vellum, and is two-tone with Drop-Cap, rubricated initials throughout. The top edge gilt has gone a touch coppery, there is a very slight inward bow to the front cover, and there is a faint pencil erasure on the front free flyleaf, but otherwise the book is in incredible shape, no wear, soil, or rubbing whatsoever, and the binding is tight as a drum. We do not believe it possible to find a finer copy of this book.

Seller: Aesthete's Eye Books, West Jordan, UT, U.S.A.