Wilde, Oscar. (1854–1900) [Sarony, Napoleon. (1812–1896)]
Original Sarony Photograph
Original cabinet photograph by Napoleon Sarony, of the Irish playwright, novelist, and personality in his astrakhan coat. Among the best-known images of Wilde, it is one of the twenty-seven images of him which Sarony took at the beginning of the former's tour of America in 1882. Sarony was the pre-eminent New York photographer of his day and one of the city's favourite eccentrics. 4.25 x 6.5 inches.Wilde, who was eager to make an international reputation, first came to America on a lecture tour arranged by the English impresario, Richard d'Oyly Carte (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame), arriving on the SS Arizona on January 3rd, 1882, this being the date of his famous quip to the NY Customs House officer that he had "nothing to declare except my genius." On a grueling schedule, Wilde lectured to Americans on aestheticism in a new town every few days and though the tour was originally planned to last four months, it was continued for over a year. In preparation for this tour, he bought himself some suitably aesthetic outfits, including a long, heavy, fur-lined green overcoat (shown in this photograph). He became very attached to this coat, writing later that "it was all over America with me ... it knows me perfectly," and he wore it when he set sail for New York on Christmas Eve, 1881, without a word of his lectures written. (13339)
Literature Unsigned Photograph