Oscar Wilde bibliography



This is a bibliography of works by Oscar Wilde, a late-Victorian Irish writer. Chiefly remembered today as a playwright, especially for The Importance of being Earnest, and as the author of The Picture of Dorian Gray ; Wilde's oeuvre includes criticism, poetry, children's fiction, and a large selection of reviews, lectures and journalism. His private correspondence has also been published.

Wilde was declared bankrupt to pay legal costs after his conviction, and his possessions - including manuscripts, letters, books and presentation volumes of all the major literary figures of his day - were sold by auction. This has made bibliographical (and biographical) studies of unpublished work more difficult since they are widely dispersed, some in private ownership. The largest collection of Wilde's letters, manuscripts, and other material relating to his literary circle are housed at the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library. A number of Wilde's letters and manuscripts can also be found at The British Library, as well as public and private collections throughout Britain, the United States and France.

Novel

 * The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890) The first version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, published as the lead story in the July 1890 edition of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, along with five other novels. Wilde revised it extensively, adding six new chapters at the behest of his publisher for publication in book form the following year.

Essays

 * The Decay of Lying (First published in 1889, republished in Intentions 1891)
 * Pen, Pencil and Poison First published in the Fortnightly Review, later included in Intentions
 * The Soul of Man under Socialism (first published in the Fortnightly Review, February 1891, first book publication 1904)
 * "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young" (First published in the Oxford student magazine The Chameleon, December, 1894) ("Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young" on Wikisource)
 * "A Few Maxims For The Instruction Of The Over-Educated" First published, anonymously, in the 1894 November 17 issue of Saturday Review.

Wilde revised his dialogues on aesthetic subjects for publication as * Intentions (1891, it comprises The Critic as Artist, The Decay of Lying, Pen, Pencil and Poison and The Truth of Masks)

Short stories

 * The Portrait of Mr. W. H. (1889)

Children's fiction

 * The Happy Prince and Other Tales (1888, fairy tales)
 * A House of Pomegranates (1891, fairy tales)
 * Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (1891) including The Canterville Ghost first published in periodical form in 1887.

Poems

 * Ravenna (1878), winner of the Newdigate Prize
 * Poems (1881), Wilde's collection of poetry and first publication
 * The Sphinx (1894)
 * Poems in Prose (1894)
 * The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898)

Plays

 * Vera; or, The Nihilists (1880)
 * The Duchess of Padua (1883)
 * Lady Windermere's Fan (1892)
 * A Woman of No Importance (1893)
 * Salomé (French version) (1893, first performed in Paris 1896)
 * Salomé: A Tragedy in One Act: Translated from the French of Oscar Wilde by Lord Alfred Douglas, illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley (1894)
 * An Ideal Husband (1895)
 * The Importance of Being Earnest (1895)
 * La Sainte Courtisane and A Florentine Tragedy Fragmentary. First published 1908 in Methuen's Collected Works

(Dates are dates of first performance, which approximate better with the probable date of composition than dates of publication.)

Posthumous

 * De Profundis (Written 1896-7, Expurgated edition published 1905, complete edition 1960 in collected letters)
 * The Rise of Historical Criticism, written while he was at Oxford, published in 1909
 * The Letters of Oscar Wilde (1962) Edited by Ruper Hart Davis; Re-released in 2000, with letters discovered since 1962, and new annotations by Merlin Holland.

Misattributed

 * Teleny, or The Reverse of the Medal (Paris, 1893) has been attributed to Wilde, but its authorship is unclear. One theory is that it was a combined effort by a several of Wilde's friends, which he may have edited.