Books

Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1890. First edition. Near Fine. First appearance of Oscar Wilde's only novel, American issue; preceded several days by the London issue. Published here in its entirety, between this first magazine publication and the novel’s appearance in book form in 1891, Wilde added six chapters and numerous variations to the text. 174, [6], xii pp. Bound in publisher's original wraps. Near Fine with light edge wear to wraps, tanning to contents with occasional offsetting, last page of adverts is lacking roughly half of the leaf. Rare in the original wraps.

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.

A first edition can often be identified by examining the publishing details in the book's front matter, such as the publisher's name, the date of publication, and for this book, the earliest state would typically be the 1891 three-volume edition without the suppressed passages that were reinstated in a later one-volume edition.