The Kelly Sketch 1905

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THE KELLY SKETCH OF OSCAR WILDE — REVISITED

In 1905 James Edward Kelly found himself in the middle of an Oscar Wilde resurgence.

In the theatre the comedies were still being revived, and 1905 also saw the first English production of Wilde’s French tragedy Salomé — with separate arrangements under way for Richard Strauss’s opera.

In the literary world, there was a marked upsurge in Wilde-related publications, many of them unauthorized. At the center of the authorized activity was Wilde’s literary executor, Robert Ross.

In February 1905, Ross edited an expurgated edition of De Profundis, which was brought out by Methuen & Co. in the UK and — in the same month — by G. P. Putnam’s Sons as the first American edition complete with Ross’s preface. It was this Putnam edition that gave James E. Kelly cause to revisit the sketch he had made of Oscar Wilde during his lecture tour of 1882.

Putnam’s wanted an illustration of Wilde to use as a frontispiece to their book, but drawings of Wilde taken from life were vanishingly rare. At the time Wilde’s former tour manager, Col. W. F. Morse, confirmed the problem by saying, “there was no obtainable likeness of Mr. Wilde, except photographs, and these were unsatisfactory.”¹

So an agent for Putnam’s (a young Constant Huntington²), approached Kelly about using the famous sketch he had made of Wilde in 1882.

But Kelly faced a dilemma, as he recalls:

I hesitated, and told them I would think it over, as at that time it was not considered the correct thing to even mention the name of Oscar Wilde.

After consulting my friends among whom was Colonel Wm. F. Morse, they all advised me against it, although Col. Morse said, “In all my experience as a manager of Oscar Wilde’s lecture tour, both here and abroad, when I knew where he was all the time so that I could keep in touch with him, I never saw or heard anything that would justify the charges against him. From what I have read, I considered him persecuted; still, it might do you harm to be connected with him.”

At last I thought of Father John Hughes, who was then Superior General of the Paulist Fathers. I called and asked him what I should do. “They say he was a penitent man?” he asked. “Yes,” I answered. “Then stand by a penitent man.” “I consider innocent,” I said. “Then so much the worse for those who accused him,” answered Father Hughes. “Shall I sign it?” I asked.

“Certainly; stand by a penitent man.”; sign your name to the picture! Stand by an innocent man; stand by your friend!” ³

It is striking how all three parties to this argument, Col. Morse, Fr. Hughes, and Kelly himself, appear to have been unsure about the truth of the charges against Wilde. Was New York of 1905 so out of touch? Or, were they all conveniently feigning ignorance?

Either way, Kelly gave the etching to Huntington and waited for the reappearance of the drawing he had made over 20 years earlier. His reminiscences continue:

Shortly after, I attended a reception … and as I sat on a window seat with Richard Le Gallienne, a book was handed to me by Mrs. Roberts, saying, “I have just received this, the first copy.” On opening it, I saw my sketch of Oscar Wilde as the frontispiece of De Profundis.⁴

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Here is the sketch as reproduced opposite the title page.

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A note in red on the tissue guard (see top) reads:

Reproduced, by permission, from the etching by
J. E. Kelly, made in 1882 during Wilde’s
American tour, under the instruc-
tion of his manager.

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The above note is accurate in that the sketch was made from an etching by Kelly made in 1882: Kelly’s study does derive from life and carries Wilde’s signature of Jan’y 1882 and Kelly’s own.

Its reappearance generated a new demand for copies of the sketch. Unfortunately, meeting the demand was not immediately possible because the 1882 copper etching plate (after prints had been made for personal use), was destroyed.⁵

So Kelly gave permission for a new engraving to be made, this time in wood, by his long-time friend and collaborator John W. Evans. Evans, a master wood-engraver, worked from a surviving impression to replicate the original.

There is one more chapter to this story. Now that the image of Wilde had been given a new life, Kelly sought to provide it with a new permanence, and decided to model a bas-relief of Wilde’s head for casting in plaster and bronze.

The bas-relief, along with a remarkable recent discovery, will be the subject of a subsequent article.

© John Cooper, 2026.

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Footnote:

1. James Edward Kelly Papers, 1880–1957, Archives of American Art, Smithsonian Institution, bound typescript of Kelly’s unpublished memoirs, reel 1876, frame 919.. ↩︎
2. Constant Davis Huntington (1876–1962), American publisher. He moved to London to open and run the London office of the American publishing house Putnam & Co., Ltd., eventually serving as chairman of the company. ↩︎
3. Kelly Papers, ibid. ↩︎
4. Ibid. ↩︎
5. Ibid. ↩︎

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