The Portrait of Dorian Gray (1925, first thus)

Oscar Wilde's tale with 12 illustrations by Henry Keen

Author

Publisher

Printing Details

First edition thus. Hardback, bound in the original black cloth with gilt butterfly to upper board and gilt sunflower and titling to spine. Top edge gilt. 24.5 × 15.5cm, xvi + 250pp, 5pp ads.

Oscar Wilde's fantastical and moral tale, concerning a beautiful youth, Dorian Gray, who has his portrait painted by Basil Hallward. The painter introduced Gray to Lord Henry Wotton, who initiates him in a life of vice. The painting, it turns out, has supernatural powers, and while Gray remains young and beautiful throughout his deterioration, the portrait changes, reflecting the real state of his degeneracy.

The edition was the first to feature Henry Keen's twelve full page plates, and with decorative initials, head and tailpieces. Henry Keen was a sadly short-lived (1899–1935) printmaker, painter, and lithographer.

Condition

Fair, bordering on poor. A battered copy of this rare edition but complete. The black cloth is rubbed and bumped, with fraying to the front joint and spine ends. The inner binding is pulled with the ffep and half-title neatly detached. Hinges cracked, exposing the mull (woven cotton mesh glued to the spine lining). The binding is shaken throughout the book but it remains in good readable condition (with careful handling). All illustrations are present as per the plate index. The pages clean, if a little tanned, with a few pages with slight loss to the margins, not affecting text.