Lot 358
WILDE, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE.
Sale 1241 - Fine Printed Books & Manuscripts, including Americana
Nov 10, 2023
9:00AM CT
Live / Chicago
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$600 -
800
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$1,008
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Lot Description
WILDE, Oscar (1854-1900). The Importance of Being Earnest. A Trivial Comedy for Serious People. London: Leonard Smithers and Co., 1899.
8vo. Half-title. 20th-century purple calf gilt, stamp-signed by Bayntun (upper joint starting); cloth slipcase.
FIRST EDITION, LIMITED ISSUE, number 3 of 1,000 copies of Wilde's "last and greatest play" (Ellman, Oscar Wilde, p.412). The Importance of Being Earnest opened at St. James's Theater in London on 14 February 1895, but was withdrawn after only 86 performances after Wilde's arrest and imprisonment on charges of gross indecency. Mason 381.
Property from the Collection of Robert S. Brown, Cincinnati, Ohio
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