Oscar Wilde

A first UK edition of Oscar Wilde's De Profundis, accompanied by Wilde's silver cigarette holder.

• Sold as a set of 2: 1 book, and 1 cigarette holder.
• Oscar Wilde (Irish).
• United Kingdom: Methuen, 1905.
• Accompanied by a silver cigarette holder with the makers mark Frederick Wald.
• The cigarette holder was taken from Wilde's cache of items following his death at the Hotel D'Alsace in Paris.
• Housed in a custom made box.

A first edition, first printing of De Profundis by Oscar Wilde, published posthumously in 1905 by Methuen. Accompanied by a silver cigarette holder, embossed with foliate scrolls and a vacant shield cartouche, hallmarked Birmingham 1894, with the maker's mark that of Frederick Wald. The holder beautiful amber ending which pulls in and out.

The renowned Irish playwright and poet, died on November 30, 1900, at the Hotel d’Alsace in Paris (now L'Hôtel). After serving two years of hard labor for "gross indecency" due to his homosexuality, Wilde fled to France, impoverished and shunned by society. Living under the name Sebastian Melmoth, he took up residence at the modest hotel. His health declined rapidly due to meningitis, complications from an earlier ear infection. Wilde reportedly quipped on his deathbed, "My wallpaper and I are fighting a duel to the death. One or the other of us has to go." He passed away destitute but surrounded by a few loyal friends. Wilde was initially buried in a pauper's grave at Bagneux Cemetery, but his remains were later moved to Père Lachaise Cemetery, where his tomb, adorned with a modernist angel, now draws admirers from around the world. His wit and tragedy remain enduring symbols of artistic genius and societal hypocrisy.

Purchased in Paris from the family of the proprietor of the Hotel d'Alsace, Jean Dupoirer sometime before 1914. 

From the collection of David Adamson, a mining engineer and great-grandfather of the original seller at Bonhams Knightsbridge 1997, who had a life-long admiration for Wilde's work.