The Picture of Dorian Gray.

WILDE, Oscar.

Item Number: 80125

London: Ward Lock and Co, 1891.

Signed limited first edition of Wilde’s only novel, considered by many to be his finest work. Octavo, original half vellum over boards. The deluxe, large-paper issue; one of 250 numbered copies, boldly signed by Oscar Wilde. In very good condition with light rubbing to the extremities. Housed in a custom half morocco chemise box. Rare and desirable in this condition.

Wilde insists in his Preface, “There is no such thing as a moral or an immoral book. Books are well written, or badly written. That’s all.” When critics attacked the work for its immorality, Wilde responded, “Leave my book, I beg you, to the immortality that it deserves” (Mason 328).