Wilde, Oscar

8vo (230 x 142mm.), FIRST EDITION, LARGE PAPER COPY, ONE OF 50 COPIES ON VELLUM, original limp vellum covers, top edge gilt, the others uncut, designs by Charles Ricketts on upper cover (including two representing a bird escaping through prison bars), preserved in purple cloth chemise and matching quarter morocco slipcase, a touch of minor spotting to endpapers and covers

Mason 390

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 RARE LIMITED ISSUE OF "DE PROFUNDIS".

Towards the end of Wilde’s imprisonment he was allowed writing equipment and provided with one sheet of blue folio prison paper at a time, each stamped with the Royal arms. On twenty sheets Wilde wrote a letter addressed to Lord Alfred Douglas, trying to explain his conduct without defending it. British Prison Regulations stated that nothing written by a prisoner while serving sentence was allowed to leave the gaol, except censored letters. The Governor of Reading Gaol wrote to the Prison Commissioners in April 1897 to ask whether the letter could be sent out. Although the reply was negative it was agreed that it could be handed to the prisoner on his release. On the day after Wilde’s release the author handed the manuscript to Robert Ross and two typed copies were then made. One was sent to Douglas, the other was retained by Ross (and later bequeathed to Vyvyan Holland). The original manuscript was presented to the British Library in 1909 (on condition that access was restricted for fifty years).

Writing to Ross, Wilde described the letter as "…the psychological explanation of a course of conduct that from the outside seems a combination of absolute idiocy with vulgar bravado… I don’t defend my conduct. I explain it…" (Complete Letters, p.780).

In 1905 Ross published extracts from the letter under the title De Profundis. A slightly fuller version appeared in the Collected Edition of 1908. Ross’s typescript provided the text for Holland’s edition of 1949. Even that edition failed to present the complete and accurate text. Before the English edition was issued in 1905 there was an authorised German translation that appeared in Die Neue Rundschau.