This edition was limited to 200 copies which were signed by John Vassos. The copy being described is number 113.
THE HARLOT'S HOUSE / AND OTHER POEMS / BY OSCAR WILDE / INTERPRETATIONS BY JOHN VASSOS / [VIGNETTE] / NEW YORK E.P. DUTTON & CO., INC MCMXXIX
240 x 195mm. Bound in quarter black leather with printed paper sides (image taken from CANZONET); rule in red between sides and leather spine; title in gold centered on spine; type set as one letter/line; endsheets of red paper; text paper machine-made laid. This edition appears to be the only book illustrated by Vassos to appear in a quarter leather binding and using printed sides derived from an original illustration. Collection PDV.
i half title ii list of other Vassos titles iii edition statement #113 of 200 iv blank v blank vi frontispiece vii title viii copyright statement ix contents x blank 1 dedication (to John Macrae) 2 blank 3-6 7-10 11-12 13-16 17-20 21-24 25-28 29-32 33-40 41-44 45-46 47-50 51-52 53-56 57-58 59-62 63-64 65-68 69-70 71-74 75-76 77-80 81-82 83-86 87-90 91-94 95-96 97-100 101-102 103-112 = 61 leaves
This edition contains 16 illustrations including the frontispiece which are included in the pagination.
vi Frontispiece
8-9 REQUIESCAT
14-15 MADONNA MIA
22-23 LE PANNEAU
30-31 PANTHEA
42-43 LIBERTATIS SACRA FAMES
48-49 ATHANASIA
54-55 E TENERBIS
60-61 VITA NUOVA
66-67 CANZONET
72-73 LES SILHOUETTES
78-79 IN THE FOREST
84-85 [Title in Greek]
92-93 TĘDUM VITĘ
98-99 HELAS!
104-105 ON THE RECENT SALE OF BY AUCTION OF / KEAT'S LOVE LETTERS
Title Page: Identical to limited edition.
i half title ii list of other Vassos titles iii blank iv frontispiece v title vi copyright statement vii contents viii blank 1 dedication (to John Macrae) 2 blank 3-6 7-10 11-12 13-16 17-20 21-24 25-28 29-32 33-40 41-44 45-46 47-50 51-52 53-56 57-58 59-62 63-64 65-68 69-70 71-74 75-76 77-80 81-82 83-86 87-90 91-94 95-96 97-100 101-102 103-112 = 60 leaves
240 x 195mm. Bound in quarter black cloth with bright green paper sides; vignette in lower right corner stamped in black and gold (abstract image of reclining woman); title in gold centered on spine; type set as one letter/line; endsheets of lime green paper; text paper machine-made wove. Collection PDV, MN, SUL, CUL.
Dust-jacket in green and gold; type in black; title also runs down spine.
THE / Harlot's / house / and other poems by / OSCAR WILDE / Interpretations by / JOHN VASSOS / EPD
WILDE'S FINEST POEMS / ILLUSTRATED BY VASSOS / IN HIS INIMITABLE SYMBOLIC / MANNER, DISPLAYING AN / AMAZING VERSATILITY IN / APPRECIATION OF THE / CHANGE OF MOOD AND / SPIRIT OF EACH POEM
Front "blurb:" advertisement for the Harlot's House. Wilde's poems are described as "having an excess of beauty which produced strange and unearthly images in the minds of his readers, just as flowers, too heavily scented, intoxicate and benumb the mind." These poems were "interpreted" by Vassos in a "series of pictures portraying the world of fantasy evoked by an overflowing imagination.
Rear "blurb:" Same reviews of Vassos' work as the 1930 printing of The Ballad of Reading Gaol.
Both editions of the
Harlot's House were released in October of 1929.(1)
The 1929 "Catalogue of Publications" listed the limited edition (200
copies) of this title at $10 and the regular edition at $3.50. As with his other
Wilde titles, the price was increased to $3.75 and was short-listed by 1946.
Internal documents from E.P. Dutton dated June 2, 1933, show that between
October 15, 1929 and April 30, 1930 164 copies of the limited edition were sold
with Vassos receiving $164 total at $1 each. From May 1, 1930 to October 30,
1933 no additional copies were reported sold. Of the regular edition, 4,047
copies were sold between October 15, 1929 and April 30, 1933, with 3,101 of
these having been sold during the first 7 months after publication. Vassos
received $806.10 at $.20 each. This title was also offered in a boxed set with
the other Wilde titles for $10. (2) The contract
between E.P. Dutton and John Vassos dated July 12, 1928, one day after signing
the contract for The Ballad of Reading Gaol, specified that Vassos supply
16 illustrations, one dust-jacket design, and the binding design. It also
outlined the royalty agreement. No mention was made of the number to be printed.
(3)
In a letter dated October 18, 1928 to Vassos, M.S.Y., an editor at E.P. Dutton, wrote, "In setting The Harlot's House and Other Poems, is there any particular edition that you would like us to use? My first thought was to buy a book and set from it, and then I though perhaps it would be better to ask whether we ought to use the exact copy from which you worked. Will you please let me know as I would like to start the composition." (4)
1. E.P. Dutton & Co., Inc., Accepted Titles for Future Publications at September 30, 1929. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 10, Publications Schedules.
2. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, Vassos, John and Ruth, Correspondence. John Vassos: Royalty Earned and Deductions to Apr. 30, 1933. June 2, 1933.
3. E.P. Dutton Papers, Box 55, Vassos, John and Ruth, Correspondence.
![[Title in Greek]](images/harlot/13.jpg){kind=link}
