A Woman of No Importance
Price: $7,500.00
Hard Cover. London: John Lane at the Sign of The Bodley Head, 1894. First Edition, Limited Large Paper Copy. Near Fine.
First edition, limited large paper copy, with "Of this edition 50 copies have been printed" statement on the verso of the fourth preliminary page, and no publisher's catalogue at the back of the book. Publisher's yellow buckram boards with gilt decorations by Charles Shannon to covers and spine, spine lettered in gilt. Near fine, with some toning to spine and board edges, light wear to spine ends with a very shallow chip to cloth at foot of spine, bottom right corner of front board worn to boards, and heavy offsetting to endpapers. Overall, a beautiful copy of one of Wilde's four celebrated drawing-room plays. Mason 365. A Woman of No Importance is a four-act play that was first produced in London at the Haymarket Theatre on April 19, 1893. Like many of Wilde's plays, it satirizes the English upper-class and criticizes Victorian society. The title "a woman of no importance" refers to the character Mrs. Arbuthnot who bears the illegitimate son of Lord Illingworth. Although societal conventions deem her a sinful woman, Wilde proves Arbuthnot a respectable widow who is rewarded with a son who treats women respectfully. In contrast, Illingworth, one of Wilde's archetypal dandy figures, is rejected by his son and many of the women in the play, making him a "man of no importance." A Woman of No Importance was published simultaneously in two formats: small octavo (the standard edition of 500 copies) and quarto (the "Large Paper" issue of 50 copies). While both constitute the first edition of A Woman of No Importance, the large paper copies are decidedly rarer than the octavos; intended to be more exclusive and deluxe publications, large paper formats were typically produced using higher quality materials, lacked the publisher's advertisements, and were printed in small print runs. Because they were intended as collectibles from publication, large paper copies of Wilde's plays are exceedingly scarce. Item #OW056
