The Wilde Album - Hardcover

Holland, Merlin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 080505894X ISBN 13: 9780805058949

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co., 1998

Synopsis

The most comprehensive collection of photographs and images of Wilde--compiled by his only grandson.

Oscar Wilde was one of the first and unquestionably one of the greatest self-publicists who ever lived. With that exceptional streak of modernity that characterized much of his life and work, he understood the power of the image in his campaign to promote the self. As early as his Oxford days, he had himself photographed with his contemporaries in loud checked suits of the latest fashion. The Wilde Album now publishes more of these images of Oscar than have ever been seen together before, as well as later photographs, some previously unpublished, from the family archive, including rare snapshots of Oscar in his last years in Italy; the famous sitting in New York for Napoleon Sarony in fur coat and velvet suit; and the good, the bad, and the vicious caricatures, cartoons, and lithographs.

In the accompanying text, Merlin Holland examines Wilde's life as reflected in the photographs and images, paying particular attention to his relationships with friends, family, and lovers, as well as the profound influence of his Irish upbringing. He also investigates the reasons for the adverse opinions his work engered and the background to the famous legal battles that finally led to imprisonment and exile.

About this title

Review:

Oscar Wilde was a man ahead of his time. He was famous for pushing the parameters of socially accepted sexual codes (albeit with disastrous results), and, as a playwright, for introducing a new, extraordinarily modern, idea of comedy that combined psychological insight with social satire. But he was also one of the primary inventors of the art and science of self-invention and self-promotion. The Wilde Album by Merlin Holland (Wilde's grandson) is a fascinating and comprehensive examination of how Wilde the artist consciously conjured--through a complicated and savvy use of the media--Wilde the personality. Holland has assembled an enormous number of artifacts--from press clippings to political cartoons to theater programs --that map Wilde's emergence as a media celebrity and chart how this image was used against him as his popularity foundered in the face of scandal.

What makes The Wilde Album ultimately moving, and unique, is Holland's use of rare family photos and personal material. Juxtaposed with the vivaciousness of the public life, and in the context of the government's persecution of the artist, this more private material embodies and expresses the pain and needless tragedy of Wilde's life.

About the Author:

Merlin Holland is a journalist and has spent the last twenty years researching his grandfather's life. He lives in London with his wife and son.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
• Publication date: 1998
• ISBN 10: 080505894X
• ISBN 13: 9780805058949
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 192