The editorial principles employed in transcribing the letters have been explained at length in The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde (Fourth Estate, 2000) and given the nature of the present edition, it would seem unnecessary here to do more than summarise them briefly.
Wilde’s spelling was mostly good, but he often misspelled proper names, even of places like Babbacombe, Berneval and Posillipo where he stayed for several months. These have been corrected along with other such slips throughout. His punctuation, except in his more formal letters, consisted mainly of short dashes, which he used to represent every kind of stop. They make the letters difficult to read, and normal punctuation has been used as the sense seems to demand. A case in point is the letter to Alfred Douglas in March 1893 which has been reproduced exactly as he wrote it, partly to show his emotional anguish and partly to illustrate the problems of transcription. Ellipses which occur in the text are Wilde’s own unless enclosed in square brackets.
Each address from which Wilde wrote is given in full the first time it occurs, and thereafter abbreviated to the essential minimum. No distinction has been made between printed and written addresses. In letters where he failed to indicate the place of writing it has been conjectured between square brackets, but in some instances this has not been possible, as for example when he was on tour in America, and the address has been omitted. For convenience the address is always printed on the right, and the date, in standardised form, on the left.
Wilde seldom dated his letters. Postmarks have often helped (though occasionally letters have strayed into wrong envelopes), and other dates have been deduced from internal evidence or cross-reference. All dates editorially supplied are enclosed within square brackets: doubtful ones are preceded by a query. Such editorial decisions, unless self-evident, were explained in the footnotes to The Complete Letters.
I considered carefully whether or not to include Wilde’s long letter (50,000 words) from prison to Alfred Douglas, De Profundis, and reluctantly decided against it. I realise that this may seem inconsistent with the idea of this selection, since of all his letters it is the one in which he lets us see most deeply into his innermost thoughts. However, since its first integral publication in 1962, it has been made widely available and its inclusion here would have made this volume, intended to be reader-friendly both in size as well as in content, unmanageably large. As an account, though, of his relationship with Alfred Douglas and of the debacle with the Marquess of Queensberry, as well as a reflection on his past glories and excesses, his misery in prison and at his aspirations for the future, it is an intimate and powerful document which should be read alongside this selection.
I have benefited over the years of working on Wilde’s letters from the generosity and kindness of many scholars, collectors and friends, all acknowledged at length in The Complete Letters; for reasons of space it is not possible here to reiterate my thanks in detail, but they know who they are and I hope that they will accept a general expression of my profound gratitude once more. To Rupert Hart-Davis I owe, together with my family, more than mere words can express; I have dedicated this selection to his memory with much love and respect. It was his decision fifty years ago to publish the first edition of Oscar Wilde’s letters which helped to put my grandfather back into the position which he lost in 1895 as one of the most charismatic and fascinating figures in English literary history.
Lastly my thanks to Mitzi Angel and Catherine Blyth at Fourth Estate for their old-style professionalism as true publisher’s editors, friends and advisers.
MERLIN HOLLAND
St Martin-sous-Montaigu
August, 2003
1854—16 October Oscar Wilde born at 21 Westland Row, Dublin
1855—June Family moves to I Merrion Square North
1864–71—At Portora Royal School, Enniskillen
1871—Wins scholarship to Trinity College, Dublin
1873—June Wins Trinity Foundation Scholarship
1874—Wins Berkeley Gold Medal for Greek
June Wins Demyship in Classics to Magdalen College, Oxford
October Goes up to Magdalen
1875—June Travels in Italy with his old Trinity Classics Tutor, J. P. Mahaffy
1876—19 April Death of father, Sir William Wilde
5 July Gains first class in Classical Moderations (Mods)
1877 March-April Visits Greece with Mahaffy, returning via Rome
1878 10 June Wins Newdigate Poetry Prize with ‘Ravenna’
19 July Gains first class in Literae Humaniores (Greats)
28 November Takes BA degree
1879 February Takes rooms with Frank Miles at 13 Salisbury Street, London
1880 Writes and publishes Vera
August Moves with Miles to Keats House, Tite Street, Chelsea
1881 June First edition of Poems published by David Bogue
24 December Sails to New York for lecture tour of the United States
1882 Lectures in US and Canada all year
1883 February-May In Paris, at Hotel Voltaire where he writes The Duchess of Padua for the American actress Mary Anderson who then turns it down
?July Moves into rooms at 9 Charles Street, London
August-September Visits New York briefly for first production of Vera with Marie Prescott in the lead; it is not a success September Begins lecture tour of UK which lasts off and on for a year
26 November Becomes engaged to Constance Lloyd while lecturing in Dublin
1884 29 May Married to Constance Lloyd in London
May-June On honeymoon in Paris and Dieppe
1885 January Moves into 16 Tite Street, Chelsea
May ‘The Truth of Masks’ published in the Nineteenth Century
5 June Cyril Wilde born
1886 Meets Robert Ross who remains lifelong friend and after his death becomes his literary executor
3 November Vyvyan Wilde born
1887 February-March ‘The Canterville Ghost’ published in the Court & Society Review
May ‘The Sphinx without a Secret’ published in the World and ‘Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime’ in the Court & Society Review
June ‘The Model Millionaire’ published in the World
November Becomes editor of Woman’s World
1888 May The Happy Prince and Other Tales published
December ‘The Young King’ published in the Lady’s Pictorial
1889 January ‘The Decay of Lying’ published in the Nineteenth Century and ‘Pen, Pencil and Poison’ in the Fortnightly Review
March ‘The Birthday of the Infanta’ published in Paris Illustre
July Gives up editorship of Woman’s World. ‘The Portrait of Mr W. H.’ appears in Blackwood’s Magazine
1890 20 June ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray’ appears in Lippincott’s Magazine