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An Ideal Husband.

An Ideal Husband.

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An Ideal Husband.

by WILDE, Oscar

  • Used
  • Hardcover
  • Signed
  • first
Condition
See description
Seller
Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
London, London, United Kingdom
Item Price
€20,823.25
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About This Item

London, L. Smithers & Co., 1899. . First edition, first impression, limited issue, number 53 of 100 copies on large paper, signed by the author; 4to (22.2 x 17.2 cm); small patch of light tanning to two leaves from some old insert; publisher's lilac cloth, gilt design by Charles Shannon, partly unopened, endpapers a little browned as always, spine sunned and with a short snag at the head of the lower joint, else very good.
A masterpiece of intrigue, political corruption, blackmail and hypocrisy but also one of forgiveness, tolerance and justice.

Wilde started writing An Ideal Husband while staying at Goring-on-Thames, which inspired him name one of the characters, Lord Goring. The finished play was initially rejected by the Garrick Theatre but soon taken up by the Haymarket Theatre, where it opened in January 1895 to a rapturous reception. George Bernard Shaw said of it: "Mr. Wilde is to me our only thorough Playwright. He plays with everything; with wit, with philosophy, with drama, with actors and audience, with the whole theatre."
Mason 386.

Synopsis

From the book:The room is brilliantly lighted and full of guests. At the top of the staircase stands LADY CHILTERN, a woman of grave Greek beauty, about twenty-seven years of age. She receives the guests as they come up. Over the well of the staircase hangs a great chandelier with wax lights, which illumine a large eighteenth-century French tapestry - representing the Triumph of Love, from a design by Boucher- that is stretched on the staircase wall. On the right is the entrance to the music-room. The sound of a string quartette is faintly heard. The entrance on the left leads to other reception-rooms. MRS. MARCHMONT and LADY BASIL-DON, two very pretty women, are seated together on a Louis Seize sofa. They are types of exquisite fragility. Their affectation of manner has a delicate charm. Watteau would have loved to paint them.

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Details

Bookseller
Shapero Rare Books GB (GB)
Bookseller's Inventory #
112233
Title
An Ideal Husband.
Author
WILDE, Oscar
Book Condition
Used
Binding
Hardcover
Place of Publication
London, L. Smithers & Co., 1899.

Terms of Sale

Shapero Rare Books

30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.

About the Seller

Shapero Rare Books

Seller rating:
This seller has earned a 5 of 5 Stars rating from Biblio customers.
Biblio member since 2020
London, London

About Shapero Rare Books

Specialising in rare books on Travel & Voyages, Natural History, Literature (including modern first editions), Children's Books, Guide Books, Judaica & Hebraica, titles of Russian interest, and Islamica.

Glossary

Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:

Cloth
"Cloth-bound" generally refers to a hardcover book with cloth covering the outside of the book covers. The cloth is stretched...
Unopened
A state in which all or some of the pages of a book have not been separated from the adjacent pages, caused by a traditional...
Gilt
The decorative application of gold or gold coloring to a portion of a book on the spine, edges of the text block, or an inlay in...
Leaves
Very generally, "leaves" refers to the pages of a book, as in the common phrase, "loose-leaf pages." A leaf is a single sheet...
Sunned
Damage done to a book cover or dust jacket caused by exposure to direct sunlight. Very strong fluorescent light can cause slight...
First Edition
In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
Spine
The outer portion of a book which covers the actual binding. The spine usually faces outward when a book is placed on a shelf....

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