Wilde at a Discount

Ten cents was cash in 1882

In June of 1882, Wilde was a celebrity in America and everyone wanted to read the poems of this apostle of the aesthetic movement. And just like popular (or even not so popular) writers today see the e-book versions of their works pirated, a similar thing happened to Wilde (though it did require a printing press).

The Seaside Library mentioned below was a New York-based publisher of cheap, pirated editions. Ironically, now they are quite rare. Wilde's particular indignity was that he actually had one offered to him for purchase. But let me give the anecdote in full, as it's told in the Hopkinsville South Kentuckian of June 6, 1882.

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