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196 WILDE, Oscar. The Ballad of Reading Gaol. By C.3.3. London: Leonard Smithers, 1898 each man kills the thing he loves First and limited edition, one of 800 unnumbered copies printed on handmade paper; 30 copies were issued on japon. Octavo. Original white cloth-backed yellow cloth, spine lettered in gilt, fore and bottom edges untrimmed. Bookplate of Douglass Cooper to front pastedown. A little soiling to cloth, light offsetting and foxing to endpapers, else clean and sharp. An unusually nice copy. ¶ Mason 371. £3,750 [153495] 197 WILDE, Oscar. The Importance of Being Earnest. London: Leonard Smithers and Co., 1899 his GREATEST PLAY First edition, one of 1,000 copies, this copy unnumbered. Wilde’s last play opened to great acclaim on Valentine’s Day 1895 but was withdrawn after Wilde’s failed libel suit against Lord Queensbury led to his arrest. The subsequent “utter social destruction of Wilde” ( ODNB ) meant that the play was not published in book form until February 1899, after Wilde’s release from prison. The play was issued in this
standard edition, a large paper edition of 100 copies, and 12 copies on Japanese vellum. Square octavo. Original pale purple cloth, title to spine in gilt, gilt floral motifs from designs by Charles Shannon to spine and covers, untrimmed. Armorial bookplate of Farquharson Tweedale. Spine faded, a few trivial marks to covers, contents lightly toned, occasional foxing. A very good copy. ¶ Mason 382. £3,000 [153303] 198 WILSON, Jacqueline; Nick Sharratt (illus.) The Story of Tracy Beaker. London: Doubleday, 1991
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never master flat washes – so I flattened it out with the hatching”), responses to characters (“I think Tracy’s hair is her defining feature . . . I exaggerated it a little . . . ”), insights into book production (“Jacky was very sweet and said it was easier for her to change or edit out the words than for me to redraw all the pictures . . . ”), and an array of personal statements. The original drawings comprise a signed pen and ink drawing of Tracy Beaker on the front free endpaper, with Tracy and “a little Tracy of her own” on the rear blank. The artist has also added detail to a drawing on page 112 of Cam and Tracy in a car, with the note “Oops – no seat belts! I’ve added some”. The copy is signed by the author on the title page, and has her additional note opposite the first page of text – “How lucky I am to have Nick as my illustrator! And he’s also a very special friend as well.” Octavo. Original brown cloth, lettering to spine in gilt. With dust jacket. Black and white illustrations throughout by Nick Sharratt. Extremities very slightly bumped, minor marks to front cover; a near-fine copy. Extremities of dust jacket frayed with tears and some minor loss, spine sunned, some tears to covers, adhesive tape repairs to reverse; else a good copy of an unclipped jacket. £1,750 [152191]
THE FIRST TRACY BEAKER BOOK, EXTRA ILLUSTRATED, ANNOTATED, AND SIGNED
First edition, a unique copy, extensively annotated throughout by the illustrator, Nick Sharratt, and signed by the author with a short note. On 8 December 2014, the charity for promoting illustration art, House of Illustration, held an auction titled “First editions: Redrawn”. The idea was to ask an illustrator to engage with or embellish a first edition of one of their published works. The results provided fascinating insights into illustrators reconnecting with their past glories and responding in a variety of different ways. This unique copy includes Sharratt’s notes on technique (“the paint dried blotchily for me – I could
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SPRING 2022
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