Aug 13, 2020 - Sale 2544

Sale 2544 - Lot 8

Price Realized: $ 3,250
?Final Price Realized includes Buyer’s Premium added to Hammer Price
Estimate: $ 3,000 - $ 4,000
28-YEAR OLD WILDE IN NEW YORK CITY
OSCAR WILDE (1854-1900)


Autograph Note Signed, to "Dear Ted" [Theodore Tilton?]:
"Will you give me the pleasure of dining with me at 6:30 tonight, here?", with a holograph street address at lower edge: "48. West 11st."
1 page, oblong small 4to; moderate staining to upper left corner (not affecting text), short closed tears at fold ends, moderate staining and remnants of prior mounting scattered on verso. [New York, November 1882].

In 1882, a young and exuberant Wilde visited the United States for the first time. Throughout that year, he toured North America delivering over 140 lectures, primarily on subjects relating to the decorative arts. While in New York, Wilde stayed at 48 West 11th Street in Greenwich Village (a few blocks away from the now-closed Oscar Wilde Bookshop on Christopher Street, which had been a center of gay activism in New York from the 1960s until 2009). A number of letters are known to have been written by Wilde from that address, including some to American journalist Theodore Tilton (1835-1907) in November of 1882, praising his work and discussing a meeting.[New York, November 1882]