Beschreibung:

Ballade de la Geôle de Reading.
Translated by Henry-D. Davray; Preface by Pierre Mac Orlan. Paris: Librairie Marceau, 1942. 4to (250 x 195 mm). 42 hand-colored full page and in-text illustrations by Dignimont. Extra-illustrations laid in loosely, collated below. Original printed wrappers and glassine, entire suite housed in a contemporary case with remnants of paper labels. Condition: some light thumbsoiling to drawings, some light chipping. extensively extra-illustrated: number 1 of 3 signed deluxe copies containing original drawings, watercolors, extra suites of plates and chapter headings. Extra-illustrations include: 38 original pen and ink drawings (many signed), 4 signed watercolor and china ink drawings, 3 pencil and watercolor drawings (some signed), 1 signed pencil drawing, 1 suite of colored plates, 1 suite of black and white, 1 colored and 1 black and white set of printed chapter headings. Wilde's poem, in the original text and in this edition, uses his pseudonym of C.3.3., derived from the cell number and floor in which he lived during his 1895 prison sentence, served in the town of Reading, Berkshire. The poem, written after his release in 1897, is dedicated to Charles Thomas Wooldridge who was hung at the prison during Wilde's sentence. Brought to life by Dignimont's masterful illustrations, the work is heightened by the original drawings and watercolors that show not only Dignimont's working process but also the development of Wilde's characters.