Books

Paris, Charles Carrington, 1908 [1910] ('First Illustrated Edition')/ 1891. Quarto, 312 pages (the title page printed in red and black) plus 7 plates by Eugene D�t� (after Paul Thiriat) with tissue-guards captioned in brown. Half parchment and plain papered boards lettered in gilt on the spine, with the parchment ruled in gilt on the front cover, and in blind at the rear; top edge gilt, others uncut; covers rubbed at the extremities, and unevenly sunned and marked, with small stains to the bottom right-hand corner of the front cover; head of the front joint neatly sealed where split; free endpapers a little tanned; acidic tissue-guards uniformly tanned; minimal signs of age and use (including light marks to three openings at the rear - possibly minor production blemishes); overall, a presentable copy (internally excellent). A large explanatory note printed in red regarding this 'First Illustrated Edition of the "Picture of Dorian Gray"' is bound in at the half-title: 'This illustrated edition was intended to be issued in 1908, the date given on the title-page; but, after the text had been printed, the Artist unfortunately fell ill, and this is the reason why the book has not appeared before the present year, 1910. The Publisher'.

The Picture of Dorian Gray is a novel by Oscar Wilde that follows a young man named Dorian Gray, who becomes the subject of a painting. As Dorian engages in a hedonistic and amoral lifestyle, he finds that the portrait reflects the consequences of his actions on his soul, while he himself remains young and beautiful.