Wilde, Oscar

small 4to, FIRST EDITION, PRESENTATION COPY INSCRIBED TO FREDERICK YORK POWELL ("York Powell: | with the | compliments of | the author. | Feby 99 | Oscar Wilde") on the verso of the half-title, number 315 of 1,000 copies, original light brown-red boards, designs by Charles Shannon in gilt on spine and boards, binding very slightly rubbed, some offsetting to endpapers

William Roughead (1870-1952), Scottish lawyer and writer on criminal trials, bookplate

Mason 381

Condition is described in the main body of the cataloguing, where appropriate.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

"The only people who have thanked me for the books I sent are you, More, Reggie, and York Powell - also my Radley boy. I am rather hurt..." (Wilde to Robbie Ross, 26 March 1899)

Frederick York Powell (1850-1904) was a historian and scholar, and had been a contemporary of Wilde's at Oxford where in 1874 he was appointed as a lecturer in law at Christ Church, although he went on to establish himself as a prominent scholar in medieval history and literature. 

It is unclear when Powell and Wilde first met, but in 1895 he was the only well-known figure to actually sign More Adey's petition to the Home Secretary for clemency regarding Wilde's sentence. In the event the letter, much of which was probably drafted by George Bernard Shaw, was never sent since shortly after Adey had prepared it he himself received a letter from the Home Office stating in no uncertain terms that Wilde's sentence would not be reconsidered. Shaw and Stewart Headlam chose not sign the document on the grounds that, as "two notorious cranks", their names "would by themselves reduce the petition to absurdity" (Holland and Hart-Davis, Letters (2000), p.1136).

Published on the urging of Robbie Ross, The Importance of Being Earnest was published after Wilde's release from prison, although it had been written and performed several years earlier. The intervening years had cost Wilde much of his health and many of his friends: the present copy, inscribed to Powell, was one of the only presentation copies for which he received any acknowledgment. Writing to Smithers, he asked, "Were all my presentation copies sent off? Most of them have been treated with silent horror or indifference..." (ibid, p.1135).

After his death in 1904, Powell's large library was sold by Blackwells, who issued three special catalogues.