IRISH PEACOCK AND SCARLET MARQUESS: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde

Merlin Holland

One of the most famous love affairs in literary history is that of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred ‘Bosie’ Douglas. When it became public, it cost Wilde everything. Merlin Holland has discovered the original courtroom transcript of the trial which led to his grandfather’s tragedy. Here at last is the true record, without the distortions of previous accounts. On 18 February 1895 Bosie’s father, the Marquess of Queensberry, delivered a note to the Albemarle Club addressed to ‘Oscar Wilde posing as somdomite [sic]’. With Bosie’s encouragement, Wilde decided to sue the Marquess for libel. As soon as the trial opened London’s literary darling was at the centre of the greatest scandal of his time. Wilde’s fall from grace was swift: his case lost, prosecution by the Crown soon followed, ending in the imprisonment that destroyed his health – even as his art, as Wilde put it, improved through ‘suffering’. In this remarkable book we witness Wilde’s confidence ebbing under the relentless questioning and see him lose track of the witty lines for which he was famous. Ultimately, it was his wit that betrayed him.

More by this author

OSCAR WILDE: A Life in Letters [ePub edition]

Release date: 7th Oct 2010

Authors: Merlin Holland Oscar Wilde

Wilde the writer is known to us from his plays and prose fiction, but apparently it was in his conversation that his genius reached its summit. His talk is lost and his autobiography was never written, but his letters reveal him at his spontaneous, sparkling best.

OSCAR WILDE: A Life in Letters

Release date: 3rd Nov 2003

Authors: Merlin Holland Oscar Wilde

THE COMPLETE LETTERS OF OSCAR WILDE

Release date: 2nd Nov 2000

Authors: Merlin Holland Sir Rupert Hart-Davis Oscar Wilde

This edition marks the centenary of Oscar Wilde’s death, and is the most complete ever to appear. It contains over 1500 of his letters, and anyone unfamiliar with Wilde as a correspondent will find it packed with unexpected delights. This magnificent collection is a major publishing event.

4th Estate