A Cheap Edition of a Great Man

*Non-fiction

Reviews

by Oscar WILDE (1854 - 1900)

Wilde’s literary reputation has survived so much that I think it proof against any exhumation of articles which he or his admirers would have preferred to forget. As a matter of fact, I believe this volume will prove of unusual interest; some of the reviews are curiously prophetic; some are, of course, biassed by prejudice hostile or friendly; others are conceived in the author’s wittiest and happiest vein; only a few are colourless. And if, according to Lord Beaconsfield, the verdict of a continental nation may be regarded as that of posterity, Wilde is a much greater force in our literature than even friendly contemporaries ever supposed he would become. It should be remembered, however, that at the time when most of these reviews were written Wilde had published scarcely any of the works by which his name has become famous in Europe, though the protagonist of the æsthetic movement was a well-known figure in Paris and London. (Summary from Introduction by Robert Ross)

Listen next episodes of Reviews:
Some Novels , A Batch of Novels , A Chinese Sage , A Fascinating Book , A Good Historical Novel , A Note on Some Modern Poets , A Scotchman on Scottish Poetry , A Thought-Reader's Novel , Adam Lindsay Gordon , Aristotle at Afternoon Tea , Australian Poets , Early Christian Art in Ireland , Index of Authors and Books Reviewed , Literary and Other Notes--I , Literary and Other Notes--II , Literary and Other Notes--III , Literary and Other Notes--IV , Literary and Other Notes--V , M. Caro on George Sand , Mr. Brander Matthews' Essays , Mr. Froude's Blue-Book , Mr. Mahaffy's New Book , Mr. Morris's Completion of the Odyssey , Mr. Morris's Odyssey , Mr. Pater's Imaginary Portraits , Mr. Pater's Last Volume , Mr. Swinburne's Last Volume , Mr. William Morris's Last Book , New Novels (August 20, 1887) , One of the Bibles of the World , Ouida's New Novel , Poetical Socialists , Poetry and Prison , Primavera , Sir Charles Bowen's Virgil , Sir Edwin Arnold's Last Volume , Some Literary Notes--I , Some Literary Notes--II , Some Literary Notes--III , Some Literary Notes--IV , Some Literary Notes--V , Some Literary Notes--VI , The Gospel According to Walt Whitman , The New President , The Poets' Corner--III , The Poets' Corner--IV , The Poets' Corner--IX , The Poets' Corner--V , The Poets' Corner--VI , The Poets' Corner--VII , The Poets' Corner--VIII , The Poets' Corner--X , Three New Poets , Two Biographies of Keats , Venus or Victory