WILDE, Oscar.

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Autograph letter signed, to Anne Wakefield Richardson. Wilde, as editor of The Woman's World, responds generously to a proposed article on "the family of Augustus"."The artificial efforts of Augustus to recreate the old Roman type of household, and the terrible tragedy of the shame and exile of Julia, are full of suggestion. It was too late in the world's history for the basis of morals to be found in legislation and state sanction - Augustus hardly realised that, but the Stoics had done so for centuries: a few remarks on the Stoic men and women would be valuable in this connection... The poets and artists in their relation to the court of Augustus should be noticed and something said about the influence of the personality of Cleopatra."Richardson followed Wilde's advice exactly, and her article, "Roman Women at the Beginning of the Empire", appeared in the magazine's September 1888 issue, illustrated with two portraits Wilde requested from the British Museum (see Guardiola, p. 38).During his editorship between 1887 and 1889, Wilde's enthusiasm for The Woman's World varied dramatically. His assistant editor, Arthur Fish, recalled that on some days, "he would sink with a sigh into his chair, carelessly glance at his letters, give a perfunctory look at proofs or make-up, ask 'Is it necessary to settle anything today?', put on his hat with a sad 'Good morning', and depart again. On his cheerful days, however, which were fairly constant in the spring, everything was different: th

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