one of 800 copies
WILDE, Oscar.
The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3.
London, Leonard Smithers, 1898.
The poem was composed following Wilde's release from the titular prison and published under the pseudonym 'C.3.3.' after his cell (the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C). Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecency in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. The first edition sold out within a week, resulting in a second edition being published soon after, yet it was not commonly known, until the 7th printing in June 1899, that C.3.3. was actually Wilde.
First edition, one of 800 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 830; 8vo; ownership inscription to front free endpaper, some age-toning to edges, endpapers browned (as often); publisher's white linen-backed cinnamon cloth, gilt lettering to spine, spine slightly rolled and darkened, light soiling to boards, slight rubbing to corners and spine ends, else very good.
Mason 371.
Stock code 109536
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The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3.
MILTON, John; PHILIPS, Edward (translator).
Letters of State,
1694.
The first edition in English of Milton's Literare Pseudo-Senatus Anglicani, translated by his nephew Edward Phillips, and containing three previously unpublished preliminary sonnets
£1,850.00
STEVENSON, Robert Louis.
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde with Other Fables.
1897.
A handsome copy of The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson.
£285.00
