http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/kt2p3031hm No online items Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS. Wilde Forgeries Rebecca Fenning Marschall UCLA. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library 2520 Cimarron Street Los Angeles, CA 90018 (323) 731-8529 [email protected] Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 1 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS. Wilde Forgeries Language of Material: English Contributing Institution: UCLA. William Andrews Clark Memorial Library Title: Oscar Wilde and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries creator: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Identifier/Call Number: MS. Wilde Forgeries Physical Description: 2.29 Linear feet5 boxes Date (inclusive): 1887-1957 Abstract: This finding aid describes confirmed or probable forgeries of Oscar Wilde's work and correspondence, in addition to describing materials about Wilde forgeries, dating primarily from the 1920s. Clark Library. Provenance The materials in Series 1 of this finding aid were acquired in 1957 (MS.1957.007) from bookseller G.F. Sims, who in turn had purchased them from Dublin booksellers Hodges Figgis and Co. In 1921, William Figgis had purchased several Wilde manuscripts from someone posing as French writer Andre Gide, but soon realized that these items were actually forgeries and had no connection to the actual Andre Gide. Figgis met in Paris with an agent of "Gide's" who went by the name Dorian Hope, but whose real identity is unknown. Though Wilde's son Vyvyan Holland thought that Dorian Hope was his cousin Fabian Lloyd, Lloyd is presumed to have died in Mexico in 1918. Series 2 consists of photocopies of materials in the possession of Maggs Bros. The materials in Series 3 were acquired by the UCLA Library in 1957 from bookseller G.F. Sims (MS.1957.008) 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 Portions of the collection are available on microfilm. 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 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. 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. Wilde Forgeries 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 This collection contains manuscript materials that have been confirmed as or strongly suspected of being forgeries of Oscar Wilde's work, in addition to legal and other materials related to such forgeries. Materials described here date largely from the 1920s and include forged literary manuscripts and correspondence said to be from Wilde, correspondence regarding forged materials, legal documents, news clippings and booksellers' catalogs. Series 1 and 2 below contain materials thought to be composed by the same forger or group of forgers, going by the name Dorian Hope. In 1921, London antiquarian booksellers Maggs Bros. and Dublin booksellers Hodges Figgis were both offered previously unknown Wilde manuscripts from people posing as Pierre Louÿs and André Gide (respectively). Dorian Hope posed as an intermediary between the booksellers,"Louÿs" and "Gide." Though the materials related to Hodges Figgis' dealings with Hope/"Gide" are included in this collection, Maggs Bros. still retains their archive of forged Wilde materials and correspondence from "Louÿs" -- the materials described below are photocopies from their collections. Series 3 contains material related to Mrs. Chan-Toon (née Mabel Cosgrove) and For the love of the king, a Burma-themed play that she alleged Wilde had written for her in the 1890s. Christopher Millard, Wilde's bibliographer, was sued for libel in 1926 by her publishers Methuen and Co., and he assembled an exhaustive dossier of his evidence and of the court proceedings. Arrangement This collection is organized into 4 series: Series 1. Forgeries from "Andre Gide" and Dorian Hope; Series 2. Forgeries from Pierre Louÿs; Series 3. Mrs. Chan-Toon and "Who wrote "For the Love of the King?"; Series 4. Letters from "Oscar Wilde" to Others. Subjects and Indexing Terms Literary forgeries and mystifications William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900--Forgeries Hodges, Figgis & Co. Millard, Christopher, 1872-1927 Cosgrove, Mabel, 1873 or 1874- Finding Aid for the Oscar Wilde MS. Wilde Forgeries 3 and his Literary Circle Collection: Forgeries MS. Wilde Forgeries Forgeries from "Andre Gide" and Dorian Hope Series 1.1920-1957 Letters from "Oscar Wilde" Subseries 1.1. Forgeries from "Andre Gide" and Dorian Hope Series 1. 1920-1957 Physical Description: .83 Linear Feet2 boxes Provenance Clark Library purchase, 1957 from G.F. Sims catalog 35 (MS.1957.007). Purchased by Sims from Hodges Figgis and Co. catalog 10 (issued in 1953). Scope and Contents Contains forgeries offered for sale to William Figgis of Dublin booksellers Hodges Figgis in 1921, as well as correspondence related to the forgeries from 1921-1957. Forged works include alleged correspondence from Wilde as well as draft manuscripts of his literary and dramatic work. Letters include correspondence from the fake Andre Gide as well as the real Andre Gide, various booksellers (Maggs, Davis and Orioli, Gabriel Wells), Christopher Millard, and Vyvyan Holland. Some supplementary published material from the 1950s regarding the collection is also included. Arrangement Materials are described in three separate subseries: Subseries 1.1. Letters from "Oscar Wilde" ; Subseries 1.2. Manuscripts ; and Subseries 1.3. Correspondence regarding collection. Materials are physically arranged in the order in which they are described in Sims Catalog 35. Existence and Location of Copies Microfilm available: Wilde 21-2 Original Call Number Originally cataloged as W6721M C697 1887 1900 Boxed. Historical Note This series contains forged works by Oscar Wilde and offered for sale by a person (or persons) posing as Andre Gide and his agent Dorian Hope. Though these forgeries have been attributed to Fabian Lloyd, Wilde's nephew by marriage, it is highly unlikely that Lloyd was involved, as he is thought to have died at sea in 1920. The materials collected here were purchased by William Figgis of Dublin booksellers Hodges Figgis and Co. He sold 2 items to fellow booksellers Davis and Orioli who had doubts about their authenticity and returned them to Figgis. This prompted Figgis to arrange a meeting with "Andre Gide" in Paris, where he was met not by Gide but by his alleged agent Dorian Hope. After meeting Hope, he set out to visit the real Andre Gide, who was deeply upset and denied any knowledge of such Wilde manuscripts. Figgis later sought the help of Wilde expert Christopher Millard, who at first believed the manuscripts were all genuine, though he quickly changed his mind.