Editorial Journal of John Cooper on Oscar Wilde
The Conditional Baptism of Oscar Wilde
The day before he died.
Oscar Wilde died at ten minutes to 2 PM on November 30th, 1900. We know this from a detailed letter, citing the precise time of death, written by Robert Ross who was with Wilde when he died.1 But less certain is what happened immediately before and after that moment.
Continue reading “Last Rites”
Oscariana in Dublin 2025
https://oscariana.ie
In its third year, Oscariana celebrates the birth of Oscar Wilde at his childhood home and other locations in Dublin.
The fabulous festival of Cinema, Shows, Tours, and Exhibitions takes place from October 16-20, 2025.
Continue reading “Oscariana In Dublin III”
Late Victorians began to contemplate a bold, astonishing idea: that perhaps women might simply be free to dress… freely.
“TO A CHILD IN HEAVEN”
A Translation by Lady Wilde
In June 1877, the short-lived Dublin magazine The Illustrated Monitor notably published a poem that Oscar Wilde had written in Rome titled: “Urbs Sacra Æterna” (Sacred and Eternal City).
However, that was not the only Italian connection. Elsewhere in the same issue there appeared a now forgotten and uncollected verse in translation provided by Oscar’s mother. It carried the auspicious title “To a Child in Heaven”.1
Here it is as it appeared when reprinted in Donahoe’s Magazine:
Continue reading “I See Thee With Angels”
VYVYAN OSCAR BERESFORD WILDE
December, 1891
This photograph is not new, but it is not often seen in close up like this, nor usually as a full cabinet card [below] which is in the Oscar Wilde Collection at Trinity College, Dublin.
Continue reading “Vyvyan”
All statues are sculpted, but not all sculptures are statues.
A bronze bust titled ‘The Head of Oscar Wilde’ was installed recently on Dovehouse Green—a small London park not far from where Wilde lived in Tite Street, Chelsea,
It is a posthumous work by the Scottish sculptor and graphic artist, Sir Eduardo Paolozzi (1924—2005), made possible by a charitable foundation to mark the centenary of his birth, and its unveiling was also timed appropriately to occur on Oscar Wilde’s birthday.
The physical configuration of the piece renders our man of letters as a fallen and fractured figure. Metaphor this may be—but, absent a meaningful reading, its composition is inclined to suggest itself, ironically, as a symbol of divided opinion.
Continue reading “Divided Opinion”
Previously published as The 16th Green
on Oscar’s birthday in 2016 and 2018.
October 16 is a noted birthday in Ireland.
I do not refer solely the young man above—followers of this blog should need no reminding that Oscar Wilde was born on this day,
But consider also a curiosity about this date in Irish lore.
Continue reading “Same Day Delivery”
The Gallery of selected images from the blog has been updated.
To view go to Gallery or click on the link in the menu.
You can select an image and scroll through all of them!
© John Cooper, 2024
A New Video Documentary by Erik Ryding
From Quill Classics comes a new full length video documentary written and directed by Erik Ryding: Wilde in New York.
Although Oscar Wilde is mostly associated with London at his zenith as a playwright, New York City also deserves a special place in his history. It was in New York, in fact, that his first two plays—Vera and The Duchess of Padua—had their world-premiere performances. During his yearlong tour of the United States in 1882, when he was a little-known poet associated with the comic character Bunthorne in Gilbert and Sullivan’s opera Patience, he sojourned in New York several times, establishing important social and artistic connections. Prompting newspaper stories wherever he went, he returned to Europe a genuine celebrity.
Continue reading “Film—Wilde in New York”
On St. Patrick’s Day 1882, during his lecture tour of north America, Oscar Wilde happened to be in St. Paul, Minnesota.
He had lectured the previous evening at the Opera House on The Decorative Arts, and, on the following evening, he returned to the same venue to attended a St.Patrick’s Day gathering. St. Paul was a city with a large Irish population and the event was one of several held that day to observe the occasion.
Despite inclement weather, the Opera House was full for a series of addresses on an Irish theme interspersed with vocal and instrumental selections. Towards the end of proceedings, Wilde was called upon to say a few impromptu words.
Continue reading “St. Patrick’s Day, 1882”