Author: Oscar Wilde Blog

John Cooper is a researcher, author, and documentary historian who has spent 30 years in the study of Oscar Wilde. He is a long-standing member of the Oscar Wilde Society and a former manager of the Victorian Society In America. For the last 25 years John has specialized in Wilde’s 1882 U.S. lecture tour becoming a consultant on Wilde’s American experience to biographers and the wider media. John also lectures on Wilde and has conducted new and unique research into Oscar Wilde visits to New York, and rediscovered Wilde's essay The Philosophy Of Dress that forms the centerpiece to his book Oscar Wilde On Dress (2013).
Article

First Impression

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“A Large Signet Ring On His Little Finger”

When Oscar Wilde arrived in America, at the beginning of 1882, the press came out to meet him on his ship the SS Arizona. A principal aim was to satisfy the public’s anticipation about what this aesthetic curiosity actually looked like.

A reporter from the New York Sun described Oscar’s appearance:

He stood at least six feet two inches tall, with broad shoulders and erect carriage. He wore a long ulster, lined with two kinds of fur, patent leather boots, and had a small round fur cap set squarely on his head. He stood at ease with one hand thrust into his ulster pocket and the other, with a large signet ring on its little finger…1

In retrospect, we might suspect of Oscar that if something as subtle as his signet ring managed to form part of the journalist’s first impression, it was not the last impression the ring was going to make.

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Announcement

Oscariana in Dublin

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Oscariana: A Wilde Dublin Festival

https://oscariana.ie/

In its inaugural year, Oscariana is a celebration of the birth of one of Ireland’s greatest sons. Join the good folks at Wilde’s childhood home and other locations in Dublin for a fabulous festival taking place from October 14-16, 2023.

Hear Oscar’s fairytales in the very nursery where he spent his childhood. Experience the acclaimed guided tour of Oscar Wilde House – the amazing and tragic stories of the Wilde family, in the very rooms where the dramas took place. See the dark and dangerous 1945 film noir version of The Picture of Dorian Gray, Oscar’s novel that caused a scandal, in the stylish and historic Stella Cinema in Rathmines. Laugh along with Wilde’s comic genius with the epic, technicolour 1952 version of The Importance of Being Earnest at Smithfield’s Lighthouse Cinema. See the classic Wildean play The Importance of Being Oscar in a room overlooking Merrion Park and Oscar’s iconic statue.

Oscar’s mother’s famous weekly gatherings of musicians, politicians and poets at One Merrion Square were famous across the 20 years or more the Wildes lived at the house. Sample what is was like to be at one of these events with our online event – Speranza’s Salon. This is a look inside the house, where you will be taken on a historic journey and see the artists, musicians and poets of today, performing in the rooms where the salons took place.

Visit the web site for schedule, tickets, and more.

© John Cooper, 2023

Article

The Sarony Case

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Napoleon Sarony’s contribution to the photographs of Oscar Wilde was not primarily technical. Instead, he drew upon his artistic background to create the mise en scène of the image; and drew upon his buoyant personality to create the right mood for his sitter.

Meanwhile, it was his first and only operator, Benjamin J. Richardson who assisted with lighting and attending to the mechanical aspects of camera technique.

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Article

Wilde at the Pier

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You may recall my discovery back in 2018 of a lecture that Oscar Wilde gave at the seaside town of Narragansett Pier.

In that earlier blog post I reported how Oscar was well-liked. The Narragansett Times described his talk as, “an eloquent, well-sustained plea for art in the household.” Afterwards, “he walked leisurely though the rooms of the house, and the ladies indulged themselves in a ‘good look’ at him.”

Now the following article from has emerged from the Providence Morning Star which corroborates the “universal satisfaction” of Wilde’s “social success” in adding to the general gaiety of the resort.

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Announcement · Article · News

The Gilded Gentleman

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—A Podcast Interview with John Cooper—

Whitman and Wilde Part 2:
Oscar Wilde in New York, 1882

The Gilded Gentleman is a history podcast hosted by Carl Raymond in New York City that launched in 2021–and already it has garnered a million downloads.

In a series of bi-weekly interviews with academics, authors, and experts in their relevant fields, The Gilded Gentleman tells the story of the society, culture, architecture, food, fashion, design, music, and literature of Paris’ Belle Époque and England’s Victorian and Edwardian eras.

I was asked to contribute to a two-part episode contrasting how—thirty years apart—Oscar Wilde’s and Walt Whitman’s arrivals in New York inspired them to move onto greater fame and celebrity.

Click on the link below to listen to the show on the Gilded Gentleman Episodes page of the web site, or it can be found wherever you download your podcasts:

© John Cooper, 2023.

Announcement

Many Times Tried

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In-Person Event in Haddonfield, New Jersey
June 23, 2023 | 6-8 PM

History Is Not Always a Straight Line

The reading will examine Oscar Wilde’s sonnet known as The New Remorse, and how Wilde used the poem to ornament three romances in his life. The following discussion of the poem will extend into wider themes. We will contrast the conspicuous life of Oscar Wilde with the less visible presence of Edward Carpenter, who was central to many of the works and personalities who constituted the gay subculture of the 1890s and beyond.

Speakers: John Cooper and Vignette-Noelle Lammott.

Place: Book Restoration Bindery, 8 Kings Ct, Haddonfield, New Jersey 08033

Web Site: https://www.bookrestorationbindery.com

© John Cooper, 2023.

Article

Born Too Late

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Paternal Grandfather and Grandson

Here are two portraits from the Wilde family album: one of Oscar’s son Vyvyan Holland (left), and one of Oscar’s father, Sir William Wilde.

I showcase these particular images because they are less commonly seen; indeed most featured pictures of Sir William are of him in his more senior years.

Moreover, the photographs are worth while juxtaposing as they were evidently taken when the two young men were about the same age, thus allowing us to evaluate how much of a chip there was off the old block. No doubt a family resemblance can be seen.

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