Edgar Saltus
Oscar Wilde. An Idler's Impression, 1917
Chicago: Brothers of the Book
One of 474 copies.
3024
Octavo. 26pp. A studied, laudatory remembrance of Wilde, seen through the dark window of his trial and imprisonment. Saltus praises him for his aversion to 'the art of never displeasing,...
Octavo. 26pp. A studied, laudatory remembrance of Wilde, seen through the dark window of his trial and imprisonment. Saltus praises him for his aversion to "the art of never displeasing, which, in itself, is the whole secret of mediocrity." At the time of Wilde's arraignment the scandal was met with discomfort and ambivalence by many of his contemporaries, but soon after his death it became apparent that his contribution to modernism overwhelmed whatever moral reservations had shaded his character, reservations did not turn out to matter all that much anyway. This particular contribution to the discussion evinces Wilde's transatlantic influence. Arranged by Laurence C. Woodworth. Printed on Fabriano. Bound in half vellum with blue paper over boards. Some interior foxing, honest soiling to cover and rubs to edges, else very good.


