Oscar Wilde and His Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS

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Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS. Wilde Forgeries

Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 1 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS... Title: Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries, Identifier/Call Number: MS. Wilde Forgeries Contributing Institution: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Language of Material: English Physical Description: 1.0 Linear feet Date (inclusive): 1887-1900 Abstract: This finding aid describes manuscript items that are confirmed or suggested forgeries of Oscar Wilde's work and correspondence. Physical location: Clark Library. creator: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Provenance William Andrews Clark, Jr. acquired the nucleus of the Clark Library's Oscar Wilde collection from Dulau and Company, London, in 1929. Most of the Dulau material had been in the possession of Robert B. Ross (Oscar Wilde's literary executor), Christopher S. Millard (a.k.a. Stuart Mason, the Wilde bibliographer), and Vyvyan B. Holland (Wilde's only surviving son). Since 1929, the Clark Library has steadily purchased important new material and in the year 2000, the collection was estimated to contain over 65,000 items. Access Collection is open for research. Restrictions on Use Copyright has not been assigned to the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Librarian. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained. For additional copyright information related to Oscar Wilde, contact Merlin Holland (email: merlin.holland[at]wanadoo.fr). Alternate Forms Available Microfilm copies of portions of the collection are available for patron use. Preferred Citation [Identification of item, subseries and series], Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries. Williams Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California, Los Angeles. Processing Note Many of the manuscript and print materials described within this finding aid have also been cataloged individually. Those individual records for print materials are available via the UCLA Library's online catalog, while the records for manuscript materials are accessible only through a physical card catalog located at the Clark. In 1957, a printed catalog of all Wilde-related works then owned by the Clark Library (approximately 2900 items) was compiled by John Charles Finzi and published as Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle by the University of California Press. Over the course of the next four decades, many new Clark acquisitions were added to the collection and approximately one-third of the collection was microfilmed at least once. In 2000, the first version of the Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle online finding aid, which described all archival materials in the Clark collections related to Wilde and his circle was written and encoded in EAD by John Howard Fowler. In 2009, this original finding aid was separated into several parts, edited and re-encoded by Rebecca Fenning in order to make its very large size (over 1000 pages) and scope more manageable for researchers. Instead of one guide describing the entire collection, there are now 5 more easily navigated guides devoted to different components of the collection: Correspondence, Manuscripts and Miscellaneous Materials, Wildeiana, Forgeries and the James Lewis May Papers. Biographical Note Oscar Wilde was born Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde in Dublin, Ireland, October 16, 1854. He attended Trinity College and Magdalen College, Oxford, winning the Newdigate prize in 1878 for the poem Ravenna. He subsequently established himself in London society as a champion of the new Aesthetic movement, advocating "art for art's sake," and publishing reviews and his Poems (1881). After being satirized (and made famous) as Bunthorne, the fleshly aesthetic poet in Gilbert and Sullivan's Patience, he made a year-long lecture tour of the United States, speaking on literature and the decorative arts. After his return to London, he married Constance Lloyd in 1884; they had two sons, Cyril and Vyvyan Holland. In 1891 he met and began a love affair with the handsome but temperamental poet, Lord Alfred Douglas.

Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 2 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS... The 1890s saw both Wilde's greatest literary triumphs and his tragic downfall. His only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray, appeared in 1891. The most famous of his witty social comedies-- Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)--were written and produced for the London stage. But in 1895, after becoming entangled in an unsuccessful libel suit against Douglas's father, Wilde was prosecuted for homosexuality. Convicted, he was sentenced to two years' hard labor. While in prison, Wilde wrote De Profundis, a letter to Douglas, and after his release, he published the long poem, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898). But despite these final works, his career was essentially over. Bankrupt and in exile, his health ruined in prison, he died in Paris in 1900. Scope and Content The Forgeries finding aid describes manuscript items in the Clark Library collection that have been confirmed as forgeries, or which are strongly suspected of being forgeries of Oscar Wilde's work. The bulk of these forgeries were created by Fabian Lloyd, Oscar Wilde's nephew by marriage. Organization This collection is organized by the name of the party responsible for the forged documents described. Separately Described Materials The following finding aids represent other segments of the Oscar Wilde collection at the Clark Library: 1. Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Wildeiana, 1858-1998, undated. MS. Wildeiana. Note Available via the Online Archive of California. 2. Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Manuscripts and Miscellaneous Materials, 1819-1995. MS. Wilde. Note Available via the Online Archive of California. 3. Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection : Correspondence, 1819, 1849-1957, 1962. MS. Wilde. Note Available via the Online Archive of California. Related Materials The Clark Library also holds the following collections related to or created by other members of Wilde's extended circle: 1. James Lewis May Papers, 1814-1963. MS.1976.013. Note Finding aid available via the Online Archive of California. 2. Robert Harborough Sherard Collection, 1881-1987. MS.1997.004 and MS.1997.005. Note Finding aid available via the Online Archive of California. 3. John Stuart Verschoyle Papers, 1884-1914. MS.2007.001. Note Finding aid available via the Online Archive of California. Subjects and Indexing Terms Cravan, Arthur, 1887-1920? Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Forgeries Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900 Literary forgeries and mystifications

Lloyd, Fabian Avenarius, 1887-1920?

Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 3 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS... Mixed materials Collection of manuscript letters, essays, poems, and plays, accompanied by dealers' W6721M C697 and experts' correspondence regarding these particular manuscripts. 1887-1900 1887-1900 General Physical Description note: 80 items. In orange leather and grey buckram box. 12-1/2 x 10 x 4-1/4 in. These are all forgeries by Fabian Lloyd [nephew of Constance Lloyd Wilde, by her brother, Otho Lloyd Holland ]. Fabian Lloyd is also known as Dorian Hope, Sebastian Hope, B. Holland, and Arthur Cravan. Manuscript works included in this collection: A Woman of No Importance, The Importance of Being Earnest, Mr. Swinburne's Poems and Ballads, The Sphinx without a Secret, Lord Savile's Crime, The Nightingale and the Rose, The Ballad of Reading Gaol, The Decay of Lying, and drafts of poems. Also: ten personal letters supposedly from Oscar Wilde. Photocopy masters of selected items shelved adjacent. Also available on microfilm: Wilde 21-2 Old Call Number W6721M C697 1887 1900 Boxed

Unknown person. Supposed letters by Oscar Wilde to Leonard Charles Smithers, 1861-1909 . 1880-1900 Mixed materials Letter. 188- 72, Folder 4 General Physical Description note: ANS 1 leaf. Forgery. Mourning stationery headed: 16 Tite Street, Chelsea, SW. Without typescript. Scope and Contents note References: Finzi 2578; Dulau 42. Also available on microfilm: Wilde 28-12 Old Call Number W6721L H926 [188-?]

Shelfmark 74, Letter. 189- Folder 5 General Physical Description note: ANS 1 leaf. Writing does not appear to be in Oscar Wilde's hand. Either a forgery or a letter dictated by Wilde to someone who imitated his hand. Also available on microfilm: Wilde 28-83 Old Call Number W6721L L434 [189-?]

Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1898 February 25 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 1 leaf. Possibly a forgery. Without typescript. With this: original envelope, addressed, stamped and cancelled; postmarked: Paris, February 25, 1898. Scope and Contents note References: Finzi 2776. Also available on microfilm: CLC 220, 249; Wilde 30-111 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1898] [Feb. 25]

Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 4 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS... Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1899 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 3 p. Forgery. Also available on microfilm: Wilde 30-114 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1899?]e

Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1899 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 3 p. Forgery. Also available on microfilm: Wilde 30-115 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1899?]f

Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1899 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 4 p. Forgery. Without typescript. Scope and Contents note References: Finzi 2781. Also available on microfilm: CLC 220, 249; Wilde 30-112 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1899?]a

Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1899 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 3 p. Forgery. Without typescript. Scope and Contents note References: Finzi 2782. Also available on microfilm: CLC 220, 249; Wilde 30-113 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1899?]b

Shelfmark 74, Letter. 1900 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 4 p. Identified as a forgery in correspondence from Sir Rupert Hart-Davis,, dated 10 Nov. 1959. Without typescript. Scope and Contents note References: Finzi 2590a. Also available on microfilm: CLC 148; Wilde 28-16 Old Call Number W6721L I31 [1900?]

Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1900 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 3 p. Forgery. Without typescript. Scope and Contents note References: Finzi 2785. Also available on microfilm: CLC 220, 249; Wilde 30-116 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1900?]

Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 5 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS...

Shelfmark 77, Letter. 1900 Folder 3 General Physical Description note: ALS 4 p. Forgery. Also available on microfilm: Wilde 30-99 Old Call Number W6721L S6642 [1900?]a

Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 6 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS...