I have been in the rare and antiquarian book business for over forty years; my family has been in the rare books business since 1876. Rare books are in my blood.
Picture of Dorian Gray, The
London: Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent & Co Ltd, 1913. Item #06515
“Dorian Gray on the Stage - A Rare Early Dramatic Adaptation”
WILDE, Oscar. The Picture of Dorian Gray: A Play in Three Acts and Prologue. Dramatized by G. Constant Lounsbery, from the romance of Oscar Wilde. London: Simpkin Marshall Hamilton Kent & Co Ltd., 1913.
First edition thus. Printed at the Ballantyne Press. Octavo (8 7/8 x 6 inches; 225 x 152 mm.). [1–10], 11–94, [95], [1, blank] pp.
Publisher’s white buckram, front cover decoratively stamped and lettered in gilt, spine lettered in gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut. A near fine copy, the binding clean and unusually bright for this fragile white buckram issue.
An uncommon early stage adaptation of Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, prepared by G. Constant Lounsbery for theatrical performance. While Wilde himself had explored dramatization during his lifetime, no authorized stage version achieved lasting success, leaving later playwrights to reinterpret the novel for the stage.
This 1913 adaptation reflects the continued fascination with Wilde’s most controversial work in the years following his death, translating the novel’s themes of aestheticism, morality, and duplicity into a dramatic format.
Price: $400.00