For Love of the King
- London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1922
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1922. The Infamous Fifteenth Volume - Wilde's 'Lost' Play That Wasn't"
WILDE, Oscar. For Love of the King. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., [1922].
Limited to 1,000 copies.
Small quarto (8 3/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 213 x 146 mm.). [vi, blank], [xiv], 1-39, [1, blank], [4, blank] pp.
Handsomely bound in three-quarter black morocco over gray marbled boards, covers ruled in gilt, spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt in compartments, gray marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, others uncut. With the Ex Libris bookplate of Charles Bauman on the front paste-down. Housed in a black morocco edged cloth slipcase. An unusually fine, well-preserved copy, enhanced by an attractive later morocco binding.
The notorious "fifteenth volume" of the Methuen collected works of Wilde. Originally issued in 1908 in fourteen volumes, the set was unexpectedly augmented in 1922 by the addition of For Love of the King, presented by the publisher as a newly discovered Wilde play.
The claim was quickly met with skepticism, and the work is now generally regarded as spurious or, at best, of highly doubtful attribution. Despite this, Methuen produced the volume in uniform style with the earlier set, encouraging its assimilation into complete runs.
The text itself - a "Burmese Masque" - differs markedly in tone and quality from Wilde's authenticated dramatic works, further contributing to the controversy surrounding its authorship.
Long considered one of the more curious episodes in Wilde bibliography An essential - and somewhat mischievous - addition for collectors of the Methuen Wilde.
WILDE, Oscar. For Love of the King. London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., [1922].
Limited to 1,000 copies.
Small quarto (8 3/8 x 5 3/4 inches; 213 x 146 mm.). [vi, blank], [xiv], 1-39, [1, blank], [4, blank] pp.
Handsomely bound in three-quarter black morocco over gray marbled boards, covers ruled in gilt, spine with five raised bands, lettered in gilt in compartments, gray marbled endpapers, top edge gilt, others uncut. With the Ex Libris bookplate of Charles Bauman on the front paste-down. Housed in a black morocco edged cloth slipcase. An unusually fine, well-preserved copy, enhanced by an attractive later morocco binding.
The notorious "fifteenth volume" of the Methuen collected works of Wilde. Originally issued in 1908 in fourteen volumes, the set was unexpectedly augmented in 1922 by the addition of For Love of the King, presented by the publisher as a newly discovered Wilde play.
The claim was quickly met with skepticism, and the work is now generally regarded as spurious or, at best, of highly doubtful attribution. Despite this, Methuen produced the volume in uniform style with the earlier set, encouraging its assimilation into complete runs.
The text itself - a "Burmese Masque" - differs markedly in tone and quality from Wilde's authenticated dramatic works, further contributing to the controversy surrounding its authorship.
Long considered one of the more curious episodes in Wilde bibliography An essential - and somewhat mischievous - addition for collectors of the Methuen Wilde.
Details
Title
For Love of the King
Author
WILDE, Oscar
Condition
Unknown
Publisher
London: Methuen & Co. Ltd., 1922