[Item #33071] The Ballad of Reading Gaol. pseud. Oscar Wilde, RADICAL, PROLETARIAN LITERATURE.

The Ballad of Reading Gaol

New York: Benj. R. Tucker, 1899. [Second American Edition]. 12mo (18.5cm.); publisher's two-toned cloth (white over blue), upper cover lettered and ruled in gilt, unadorned spine; [8],44pp. Some minor shelf wear, white portion of cloth binding rather soiled and toned along spine, short closed tear to title page fore-edge not approaching text, old ink spot affecting first few leaves, else interior fine. Very Good and sound overall.

Often considered to be the first American edition, this imprint is actually preceded by the Brentano's ca. 1898 edition. This edition was published in two states, one in which the text appears on rectos only, the second (including this copy) printed on rectos and versos: "Both editions, that printed on one side and that printed on both sides, are from the same type. It is therefore clear that they are not...two independent editions, but the one-side issue constitutes merely a kind of de-luxe variety, while the two-sided is a cheaper, popular version of the same edition" (HORODISCH, pp. 76-77).

Issued by Benjamin R. Tucker, the noted anarchist publisher and editor of the journal Liberty, in which Tucker published the essay "The Criminal Jailers of Oscar Wilde" in 1895. Tucker and Emma Goldman were two of the few Americans to publicly defend Wilde during his trial (George Haggerty, Encyclopedia of Gay Histories and Cultures (2013), p. 52.

Price: $750.00

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