Oscar Wilde | The Sphinx, 1894, limited edition, one 25 deluxe large paper copies

Oscar Wilde

The Sphinx. London: Elkin Matthews and John Lane, The Ballantyne Press, 1894

LIMITED EDITION, ONE OF 25 large paper copies, 4to, printed in green, red and black, illustrations by Charles Ricketts, decorative vellum gilt, signed by CR (Charles Ricketts) and HL (Henry Leighton, binder), original cloth ties, uncut edges, in modern white box, very occasional light foxing,covers a little bowed, spine a little sunned, ties spotted

‘No illustrated book was ever more thoroughly planned […] The result is a perfect whole, as harmonious as it is dazzling’ (Ray, The Illustrator and the book in England 262).

PROVENANCE:

The Library of Laurence W. Hodson, bookplate