Books

Munich: Drei Munchen, 1923. No. 32 of 250 copies. First Edition thus. (Total edition 340) Signed by Masereel. Slightest rubs, still fine.. No. 32 of 250 copies. First Edition thus. (Total edition 340) Signed by Masereel. Quarto. 62p, colophon. Illustrated by Frans Masereel with woodcuts printed on handmade paper: 7 full-page on rectos only, and 14 within in text. Bound by Hubel & Denck, Leipzig in full calf, t.e.g., the spine in 6 panels with embossed decorations and gilt titles, the covers with double embossed ruled borders, the upper cover with geometric designs including darker elements. A lovely work in fine binding, fine printing, Masereel's woodcuts and Wilde's poetry. Avermaete p. 267; 29 (47).

The Ballad of Reading Gaol is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile in Berneval-le-Grand, after his release from Reading Gaol (/rɛdɪŋ dʒeɪl/) on 19 May 1897. Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of homosexual offences in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. During his imprisonment, he witnessed the events leading up to the hanging of Charles Thomas Wooldridge, a trooper in the Royal Horse Guards, for the murder of his wife; these events inspired the poem.

Look for the publisher Leonard Smithers, the year 1898.