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Oscar Wilde

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:NA Estimated At:NA
Oscar Wilde

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Auction Date:2020 May 13 @ 18:00 (UTC-05:00 : EST/CDT)
Location:15th Floor WeWork, Boston, Massachusetts, 02108, United States
ALS - Autograph Letter Signed
ANS - Autograph Note Signed
AQS - Autograph Quotation Signed
AMQS - Autograph Musical Quotation Signed
DS - Document Signed
FDC - First Day Cover
Inscribed - “Personalized”
ISP - Inscribed Signed Photograph
LS - Letter Signed
SP - Signed Photograph
TLS - Typed Letter Signed
ALS, four pages on two adjoining sheets, 5 x 8, Albemarle Club letterhead, no date but circa 1893–1894. Letter concerning the production of his plays in Germany, in full: "My plays can be got from John Lane, Bodley Head, Vigo Street, W. London. They cost I believe 7/6 each—One is 'Lady Windermere's Fan': the other 'A Woman of No Importance'—you are at perfect liberty to translate them & publish them—Dr. Oskar Blumenthal, director of the Lessing Theatre Berlin asked me three years ago of the right to produce 'Lady Windermere' which I gave him, but he has not produced it—so you can produce it & the other if you like—but I w'd advise you to write in regard to 'Lady Windermere' to Dr. Blumenthal first—as regards fees—let us share equally, if you think that fair—I do." In fine condition, with toning along the top edge of the first page. Accompanied by the original mailing envelope, addressed in Wilde's own hand.

In 1892, Wilde had drawn up a contract with German playwright and theatre director Oscar Blumenthal for the sole right of production of Lady Windermere's Fan in Austria and Germany, under the same terms proposed here—half of all fees and other royalties. It had not been staged by the time of this letter, and Wilde was open to exploring other possibilities for translating and staging his comedies of society. Despite his interest in potential German productions, it would not be until September 4, 1903, that A Woman of No Importance debuted in Germany, at the Neues Theater in Berlin under the direction of Max Reinhardt. A fantastic letter revealing the international appeal of Wilde's satirical plays.