A partial run of Lord Alfred Douglas's The Spirit Lamp

Lot 118

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New York, NY 10128
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$20,000	$2,500
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Rare Books, Autographs & Maps

By Doyle

Nov 25, 2025

Set Reminder 2025-11-25 10:00:00 2025-11-25 10:00:00 America/New_York Bidsquare Bidsquare : Rare Books, Autographs & Maps https://www.bidsquare.com/auctions/doyle/rare-books-autographs-maps-21321 Auction of Rare Books, Autographs & Maps on Tuesday, November 25, 2025 at 10am Consignments Are Currently Being Accepted for Future Auctions We Invite You to Contact Us for a Complimentary Auction Evaluation of Your Collection Doyle info@doyle.com

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Lot Description

DOUGLAS, LORD ALFRED and OSCAR WILDE The Spirit Lamp: An Oxford Magazine without News. Oxford: 1892-93. 11 original issues (of 15) in 4 volumes, lacking vol. 1 issue 1, vol. 2 issues 3 and 4, vol. 3 issue 1; Vol 2. No. 1 is notated "with the compliments of the Editors" at the head of the wrappers. Original yellow wrappers to vols. 1-3, blue wrappers to vol. 4. Some wrappers lightly browned and brittle, some backstrips repaired. A near-complete set of The Spirit Lamp, containing two of three Oscar Wilde first appearances: "The House of Judgement" in volume 3, no 2, and "The Disciple" in volume 4, no 2. Douglas and Wason's short-lived literary magazine was produced over the course of a year at Oxford University. Douglas did not complete his degree, leaving Oxford in late 1893, and Wason went on to become a cleric for a parish near Truro, Cornwall, but lost his job when he started to dispute the use of incense. This publication intensified Bosie's conflict with his father, the 9th Marquess of Queensbury, which eventually led to the public libel trial between Queensbury and Wilde. Mason 264 & 265. Offered with an 1893 autograph letter signed by Alfred Primrose, Lord Rosebery: Rosebery was involved in the Oscar Wilde scandal of 1895, when it emerged that the Marquess of Queensbury (father of Wilde’s lover Lord Alfred Douglas) had accused Rosebery of having unnatural relations with his eldest son, Francis Douglas Viscount Drumlanrig, who had allegedly committed suicide while on a shooting party in 1894.

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