WILDE, Oscar

Salome. A tragedy in one act: translated from the French of Oscar Wilde. Pictured by Aubrey Beardsley.

Published

London: Elkin Mathews & John Lane. Boston: Copeland & Day. 1894 [F41089] 1894

Description / Condition

FIRST ENGLISH EDITION. LIMITED EDITION (500). Sm. 4to. (21.5 x 15.5 cm).
pp.[xii]+67, plus 16pp.(ads.). Original gilt decorated blue canvas. *Decorated
title and contents leaf, 10 full page illustrations and one final vignette.
*Slight fade to spine and extremities of binding, but significantly better
than normal: overall a fine copy.
*£3,000*

*First published in French the previous year, without Beardsley’s
illustrations, due to censorship problems: the production of the play had
its license witheld by the Lord Chamberlain on the grounds of its having
introduced biblical characters.*

*The dedication is “To my friend Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas the translator of
my play”. *

*Although the limitation is given as 500 on the verso of the half-title
there were in fact 750 of the ordinary edition out of a total 875.*

(Mason, 350).