“No such thing as a moral or an immoral book:” Rosenbach acquires copy of The Picture of Dorian Gray 

Written By Tyler Melchior

by Nancy Loi, Assistant Librarian

At the end of March 2025, the Rosenbach wrapped up a subscription-only Biblioventures series featuring Irish author Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, in which a team of hosts led participants in a close reading and discussion of the novel. But while Dr. Rosenbach was (arguably) wild about Wilde, he didn’t leave a copy of Dorian Gray for our founding collection, resulting in a noticeable gap. Until now.  

We’re thrilled to announce that the Rosenbach recently acquired a copy of Dorian Gray [EL3 .W672do 891] for the collection—a first edition in book form, one of 250 deluxe large-paper copies signed by Oscar Wilde. The physical object itself is a work of art, featuring the designs of frequent Wilde collaborator, artist, and illustrator Charles Ricketts (1866-1931).  

Oscar Wilde The Picture of Dorian Gray London, New York and Melbourne: Ward Lock and Co., 1891. Museum purchase through the generous support of the Wyncote Foundation.

The Rosenbach acquired the book at Christie’s auction of Barry Humphries’ personal collection in February 2025. Humphries was an Australian comedian and actor, best known for his character Dame Edna, but he was also a collector of books, manuscripts, and art, including Wilde and Aubrey Beardsley (1872-1898). While several pairs of Dame Edna’s iconic glasses were also up for auction, they unfortunately fall out of the Rosenbach’s collecting scope.  

This copy’s interesting provenance goes back further. Another previous owner, William Roughead (1870-1952), was a Scottish lawyer and amateur criminologist who wrote and published accounts of murder trials, pioneering the true crime genre. His fans included the American British author Henry James and U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Roughead also worked with Rosenbach favorite Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930), creator of Sherlock Holmes, on a campaign to free Oscar Joseph Slater (1872-1948) who was wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death.  

Arthur Conan Doyle is also directly connected to Wilde and Dorian Gray’s origin story. In 1889, the two writers dined with Joseph M. Stoddart (1845-1921), an editor for the Philadelphia-based Lippincott’s Monthly Magazine and Irish politician T. P. Gill (1858-1931) at the Langham Hotel in London. This “golden evening” (according to Conan Doyle) would result in the publication of Conan Doyle’s The Sign of Four in Lippincott’s February 1890 issue [EL4 .D754si 890a]  and Wilde’s Dorian Gray in July 1890. Given his interest in the justice system, Roughead may have collected books by Wilde because of Wilde’s own infamous trials. 

In 1895, Wilde sued his lover Lord Alfred Douglas’s father, John Sholto Douglas, 9th Marquess of Queensberry (1844-1900) for criminal libel after the Marquess left a calling card at the Albemarle Club where Wilde was a member, addressing Wilde with a homophobic slur. In his legal defense, Queensberry cited the supposed “immorality” and “sodomitic” character of Wilde’s writings, especially Dorian Gray. The trial brought to light many of Wilde’s sexual relationships with other men, resulting in Wilde dropping his libel case and Queensberry winning a counterclaim against Wilde. The case ultimately bankrupted and ruined Wilde, who was convicted of “gross indecency” and sentenced to hard labor. His assets were seized and sold at auction, resulting in the dispersal of his papers, letters, manuscripts. 

Bookplates of William Roughead and Barry Humphries in The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Our new-to-us copy of Dorian Gray is accompanied by a brief letter from Oscar Wilde to his close friend, the writer Ada Leverson (1862-1933) [EMs 1352/08.2], who he nicknamed “Sphinx.”  Like Wilde, Leverson was praised for her wit.  

In this 1893 letter, Wilde congratulates Leverson on a “brilliant” sketch she wrote and says, “It is quite tragic for me to think how completely Dorian Gray has been understood on all sides!” Wilde is likely referring to Leverson’s parody of Dorian Gray and his play A Woman of No Importance entitled “An Afternoon Party,” which appeared anonymously in the humor magazine Punch, or The London Charivari.  

While it is certainly exciting to have a letter that directly mentions Dorian Gray and its reception, I am particularly drawn to the fact Wilde is also praising a woman writer’s work and encouraging Leverson to collect her sketches. While Wilde was famous and infamous in his own time, Leverson published anonymously and was “behind the scenes,” as Wilde wrote in this letter.  

This is the second letter to Leverson in the Rosenbach’s collection. English essayist Max Beerbohm penned the other [EMs 1225/11].  

Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900. Autograph letter signed: Albemarle Club, to [Ada Leverson] [1893 July 15]. EMs 1352/08.2. Museum purchase through the generous support of the Wyncote Foundation.

History of Oscar Wilde at the Rosenbach 

These additions build on the Rosenbach’s notable existing collection of Wilde holdings, which date back to our founders and the Rosenbach Company. Some highlights include manuscripts for the play Salomé [EL3 .W672s MS] and an expanded version of the story The portrait of Mr W. H. [EL3 .W672p 921 MS]. The latter has been digitized and made available online via COVE Editions and you can learn more about Mr. W.H. in this Rosenblog post from 2015.  

Dr. Rosenbach’s biographers and former employees Edwin Wolf 2nd and John Fleming described him as “a Wilde enthusiast since his college days.” (Wolf and Fleming, p. 135.) He and his successor Fleming certainly helped other Wilde enthusiasts build their collections, including John B. Stetson, Jr. (1884-1952)—whose father created the iconic Stetson cowboy hat and produced them right here in Philadelphia. Stetson auctioned off his Wilde collection in 1920 (you can see a digitized version of the catalog on the Internet Archive), with many treasures ultimately going to another Rosenbach client, philanthropist William Andrews Clark Jr. (1877-1934).  

Clark built the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library at the University of California, Los Angeles, in honor of his father, a copper mining magnate and former U.S. senator. Today, the Clark Library holds one of the largest collections of Oscar Wilde material in the world, including Wilde’s love letters to Lord Alfred Douglas (1870-1945). Clark published a facsimile of the letters in 1921 and asked Dr. Rosenbach to write a preface [Ro1 924b].  

When I went to check the stock cards in the Rosenbach Company Archives, I was surprised to see how much Wildeana passed through the Company before finding their home with other collectors and institutions, including even more letters from Wilde to Ada Leverson and other first editions of Dorian Gray.  The images below are a fascinating snapshot of our founders’ business of buying and selling (and sometimes re-buying) of Wilde.  

Wilde: Letters,” “Wilde: Mss.,” “Wilde: Printed,” and “Wilde: Assoc. Items.” Rosenbach Company Archives, RCo IX-b:27

But now the Rosenbach is welcoming this Dorian Gray to its new permanent home, alongside another one of Wilde’s best-known works that we acquired relatively recently —a copy of The Importance of Being Earnest [EL3 .W672im 899]. The Rosenbach collection has grown by approximately a third since our founders’ day. With a modest acquisitions budget and a commitment to carefully stewarding our collections, we aim to be thoughtful and strategic when building on and enhancing what the Rosenbachs left us.   

Interested in learning more about our Wilde holdings?  

  • Keep an eye out for a Behind the Bookcase tour featuring Wilde.  

Tyler Melchior
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