Oscar Wilde, 1888

WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900). The Happy Prince and Other Tales. Illustrated by Walter Crane and Jacomb Hood. London: David Nutt, 1888.

A lovely copy of the rare large paper edition, signed by Oscar Wilde and publisher David Nutt on the limitation page, together with an autograph postcard by the author. One of 75 copies, this is number 27. Wilde's first collection of fairy stories for children, The Happy Prince and Other Tales "marks the beginning of Wilde's true creativity" (Jeanette Winterson, The Guardian, 2013). Indeed, the stories are equal parts Brothers Grimm and Walter Pater, combining Wilde’s signature wit with dark explorations of loss and sacrifice. Walter Crane's illustrations depict The Happy Prince, The Selfish Giant, and The Remarkable Rocket. Mason 313.

Quarto (282 x 195mm). Frontispiece and two plates (present in duplicate), title page printed in red and black, uncut. Original Japanese vellum-covered boards with pictorial design by Jacomb Hood, title and imprint in red (some toning and scuffing, as usual; minor mark/scratch through a couple letters in the author's name on spine). Provenance: Stella Belford (ownership inscription dated Sep 95) – C.Condor (signed crayon drawings to fly-leaf and verso of limitation page, labeled "The Nightingale and the Rose" and "The Happy Prince"). [Together with:] [WILDE, Oscar.] Autograph letter signed ("Sebastian Melmoth") to Madame Stannard, no place, no date. In part: "with very great pleasure of course I like gooseberry tart. How wicked I should be if I did not." (Creased.) Housed together in custom quarter morocco slipcase.