Books

London, Leonard Smithers, 1898. . First edition, one of 800 copies on handmade paper, from a total edition of 830; 8vo; ownership inscription to front free endpaper, some age-toning to edges, endpapers browned (as often); publisher's white linen-backed cinnamon cloth, gilt lettering to spine, spine slightly rolled and darkened, light soiling to boards, slight rubbing to corners and spine ends, else very good. First edition, limited to just 800 copies on handmade paper, with a further 30 copies on Japanese Vellum. The poem was composed following Wilde's release from the titular prison and published under the pseudonym 'C.3.3.' after his cell (the third cell on the third landing of Gallery C). Wilde had been incarcerated in Reading after being convicted of gross indecency in 1895 and sentenced to two years' hard labour in prison. The first edition sold out within a week, resulting in a second edition being published soon after, yet it was not commonly known, until the 7th printing in…

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.