About the Book:

SP Books presents Oscar Wilde’s manuscript for The Picture of Dorian Gray: an exceptional document which shows Wilde’s text as it was initially composed, in which the reader can follow how he edited and sharpened his prose and observe, even in this early version, what appears to be a form of self-censorship. Oscar Wilde began writing this 13-chapter draft for Lippincott’s Magazine in 1889. Its pages showcase the writer’s tremendous craft, but also his self-censorship in the context of 19th century English homophobia. 

About the Author:

Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He went to Trinity College, Dublin and then to Magdalen College, Oxford, where he began to propagandize the new Aesthetic (or 'Art for Art's Sake') Movement. He gradually won a reputation as a modern writer with an original talent, through the phenomenal success of his plays and short novels.

Success, however, was short-lived. In 1891 Wilde had met and fallen extravagantly in love with Lord Alfred Douglas. In 1895, when his success as a dramatist was at its height, Wilde brought an unsuccessful libel action against Douglas's father, the Marquess of Queensberry. Wilde lost the case and two trials later was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for acts of gross indecency. As a result of this experience he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol. He was released from prison in 1897 and went into an immediate self-imposed exile on the Continent. He died in Paris in ignominy in 1900.

About the Publisher:

SP Books – standing for Éditions des Saints Pères – was founded in Saint-Germain-des-Prés by young publishers Jessica Nelson & Nicolas Tretiakow with the aim of creating a unique collection of great manuscripts. SP Books was born from our passion for outstanding stories, beautiful books, and above all, the original manuscripts of great works. As our lives grow increasingly digital, SP Books are committed to creating a reading experience that is at once revelatory, intimate and aesthetic: to restore the magic of handwriting to great works, that can be revisited and kept forever.

Details:

25.5 x 35.5 cm, 280 pages
Oxford blue, in slipcase 
Limited numbered edition,1,000 copies

For more information, email books@heywoodhill.com.