Wilde, Oscar--

After having received Extreme Unction from the Catholic priest Father Cuthbert Dunne the day before, Oscar Wilde died -- from what is now believed to be the effects of ear infection -- in the early afternoon of 30 November 1900 in his room at the Hôtel d'Alsace, Paris, in the presence of Robert Ross, who held his hand,  Reginald Turner and the hotel proprietor, Jean Dupoirier. Ross later wrote a detailed account of the scene, commenting on how "calm and dignified" Wilde looked after the body had been washed. "Around his neck", he records, "was the blessed rosary...and on the breast a Franciscan medal given me by one of the nuns, a few flowers placed there by myself and an anonymous friend...". He also records: "An unsuccessful photograph of Oscar was taken by Maurice Gilbert at my request, the flashlight did not work properly."

The lot includes an autograph note signed by Wilde's grandson, Merlin Holland, dated 12 November 1997, explaining its provenance and testifying to the likelihood that the photograph was taken by Maurice Gilbert (one of Wilde's most devoted friends in his last years) with the camera of Robert Ross, who had just recently taken up photography. It may be added that the original glass negative, owned by Holland, is so deteriorated that further prints from it have long been impossible.