WILDE, Oscar.

£1,750 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Children in Prison and Other Cruelties of Prison Life. First separate edition, first published as a letter in the Daily Chronicle on 28 May 1897 just over a week after Wilde was released from prison. This is Wilde's defence of the warder of Reading Gaol, who was dismissed from his job after giving biscuits to a hungry child.This copy belonged to A. J. A. Symons (1900-1941), with his bookplate in the chemise. Symons was friends with Lord Alfred Douglas and was writing a biography of Wilde at the time of his death. He was the founder of both the First Edition Club and the Book Collector's Quarterly.

Found via Rare Books Intel, a search across rare-book dealers, auction houses and marketplaces worldwide.