The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde contains his only novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray; all his stories, plays and poems; and a substantial number of his essays and letters, all in their most authoritative texts. The Importance of Being Earnest, for example, is given in the original four-act version, with readings from the revised edition, while "De Profundis," his moving and tragic letter to Lord Alfred Douglas, is from the manuscript held by the British Museum until 1960 -- the only complete and accurate source. This is the first one-volume anthology to include "The Portrait of Mr. W.H.," in which Wilde expanded his theory concerning the mystery of Shakespeare's sonnets, and also "A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated," a series of aphorisms typical of Wilde. It carried, too, an introduction by Vyvyan Holland, Oscar Wilde's son.

Publication Year: 2008