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reception (the Daily Telegraph praised “work of a remarkably high order” and the Academy identified “a true gift of mellifluous versification”). However, it was the glowing review in the Outlook on 3 June 1899, headed “A Great Unknown”, that was celebrated jointly by Wilde and Douglas. In a letter to Leonard Smithers from 8 June 1899, Wilde noted that “Bosie is naturally in high spirits over his first review in the Outlook ; it certainly is splendid. It arrived while we were dining together at Avenue Kleber, and we celebrated the glory of the ‘Great Unknown’ at the Horse-Shoe Bar”. Douglas presented this copy to Isidore Leo Pavia (1875–1945) who, in collaboration with Hermann Freiherr von Teschenberg, was the first translator of nearly all Wilde’s works into German. James Agate (1877–1947), the diarist and theatre critic, provides some significant detail on Pavia. In Agate’s first volume of autobiography, Ego (1935), Agate described him as “perpetually hard up, and a wit who spends his life pouring vinegar on troubled waters. Everybody’s enemy except his own”. Pavia would become Agate’s secretary and partner. The final volume of Agate’s autobiography, Ego 9 (1945) was dedicated to his memory. Writing on Hermann Freiherr von Teschenberg in The Wildean (January 2008), Horst Schroeder notes that “the collaborator on all occasions was Isidore Leo Pavia . . . much of Pavia’ s life is known to us only from hearsay, in this case from James Agate, into whom Pavia bumped by chance in a London pub some day about 1923, never to leave him again”. The later recipient (“and now: From Isidore Leo Pavia to his friend Betty Ricketts. March 1925”) is described by Agate as a “clever hostess who entertains her guests as well as feeds them. Plies you with drink and sets you down at a bridge-table with three good players. An impulsive, generous creature”. Agate also reports a conversation with Pavia in 1934. Apparently Pavia “very impressively” told Agate that “Betty Ricketts has taken a great load off my mind. She has promised to have me cremated”. Agate responded with the question “When?” Octavo. Original vellum-backed blue boards, titles to spine gilt. Vellum discoloured, extremities worn, covers soiled, browning and foxing to endpapers, occasional spliting between gatherings at gutter; nevertheless a good copy. £1,750 [151414]
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undertook the present edition for the sake of preserving it”. Theodore Low De Vinne (1828–1914) was the leading American printer of his day: “His encyclopaedic understanding of the craft, his advancement of its technology and design, his appreciation of its history, his business leadership, and his many writings earned him, among his contemporaries, the designation ‘Dean of American Printers’” (Tichenor). De Vinne’s elaborate printer’s device appears on the verso of the errata leaf in both volumes. 2 volumes, octavo (174 × 118 mm). Contemporary green morocco by Zaehnsdorf, spines with raised bands, gilt lettering and blind-stamped ornaments in compartments, covers bordered with blind rules enclosing foliate decoration, green morocco endpapers, board edges, pastedowns and recto of free endpapers ruled in blind, edges gilt. Housed in custom red straight-grain morocco jackets with red silk lining, spine panels lettered in gilt, with bookplates of Theodore Low De Vinne. Spines and extremities slightly faded, minor marks to covers, contents remarkably bright and free of marks; jackets rubbed along the edges, superficial cracks at folds and to spine panels with a little loss of leather, all skilfully refurbished and holding well. A near-fine copy presenting handsomely. ¶ G. A. Stringer, J. Johnson, J. R. Roberts, & P. A. Parrish, eds., The Variorum Edition of the Poetry of John Donne , 1995; I. Tichenor, The De Vinne Centennial , 16 February 2014, available online on the American Printing History Association website; The Anderson Galleries Sale Catalogue 1455, The library of the late Theodore Low De Vinne , no. 899. £3,500 [157590] 38 DOUGLAS, Alfred. The City of the Soul. London: Grant Richards, 1899 inscribed by Wilde’s “Bosie” to a translator of Wilde’s works First edition, first impression, presentation copy, inscribed to a translator into German of Wilde’s works, “Isidore Leo Pavia from his friend Alfred Douglas. December 1902”, with a later inscription by the recipient on half-title. Lord Alfred Douglas anonymously published his third volume (and second volume of poetry) in May 1899. It had an enthusiastic
All items are fully described and photographed at peterharrington.co.uk
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