Alfred Bosie Douglas Autobiography My Friendship w/ Oscar Wilde Signed 1st 1932

Description: This is an auction for a very scarce book My Friendship with Oscar Wilde, Being the Autobiography of Lord Alfred Douglas, written by Alfred Douglas and published by Coventry House of New York in 1932. First American edition copy, printed in a very small print run of only one thousand copies, the first one hundred copies of which were signed by the author. This copy is one of those rare signed copies. The book has the very scarce original dustjacket and is number 32 of the first print run and is signed on a free front end page in blue fountain pen, simply “Alfred Douglas.” This volume contains a “Preface to the American Edition” written by Alfred Douglas dated June of 1932 and a Preface to New Edition. The book is a good beige / brown illustrated design hardback copy with a paper label title. The book boards have some shelf wear to both top and bottom edges and each corner shows some rubbing and slight bumping. The dust jacket has paper loss and chipping to spine, chipping to upper edge of front panel and full top portion of rear panel missing. The book front pastedown has a prior owners bookplate. The dust jacket is now protected in an archival mylar cover. The book has a tight binding, no writing, no tears, no underling and comes from a smoke free environment. This book measures 6 by 9 inches, 307 pages, illustrated with a few b/w portraits. In case I am asked this book is NOT an ex‑library copy. Selling rare books since 1994 Lord Alfred Bruce Douglas (22 October 1870 – 20 March 1945), also known as Bosie Douglas, was an English poet and journalist, and intimate friend of Oscar Wilde. While at Oxford he edited an undergraduate journal and met Wilde, starting a close but stormy relationship. Douglas's father, the Marquess of Queensberry abhorred the relationship and set out to humiliate Wilde, publicly accusing him of homosexuality. Wilde sued the Marquess for criminal libel but lost and evidence offered by the defense at the trial, some in the form of intimate notes written by Wilde, served as the basis for later criminal charges against Wilde. He was ultimately convicted of the crime of “gross indecency” and imprisoned. Upon his release from prison, Wilde briefly lived with Douglas in Naples, Italy but they had separated by the time Wilde died in 1900. Five years after Wilde’s death a letter was published entitled De Profundis, which had been written by Wilde while imprisoned in Reading Gaol and addressed to Douglas. In the letter Wilde recounted, among other topics, his relationship with Douglas. The letter began “Dear Bosie” and ends with “Your Affectionate Friend” In 1902 Douglas married poet, Olive Custance and had they had a son. Douglas converted to Roman Catholicism later in life and spent some time writing for magazines. In one such instance he was jailed for writing a libelous claim against Winston Churchill regarding Churchill’s service in World War I. Before his death in 1945 Douglas wrote his autobiography and several books of verse.

Price: 675 USD

Location: Fort Lauderdale, Florida

End Time: 2024-12-09T16:29:06.000Z

Shipping Cost: 0 USD