Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories. London: Osgood & McIlvaine, London, 1891. First Edition. Original buff paper boards, titled and decorated on covers. Covers with light shelf-wear, spotting to endpapers & title page, otherwise contents in nice bright condition.

One of only 2000 copies, the book gathers four tales that Wilde had published in periodicals a few years earlier: Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime, The Sphinx Without A Secret, The Canterville Ghost and The Model Millionaire.

The book received a wide range of reviews upon its publication, highlighting the varied ways Wilde’s work was perceived. The young W.B. Yeats, lauded Wilde’s “extravagant Celtic crusade against Anglo-Saxon stupidity,” viewing the paradoxes and humor as a weapon against philistinism (United Ireland, September 26, 1891).

An important work in Wilde’s oeuvre where his sparkling wit is deployed with a purpose that is both subversive and profound.

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