A Woman of No Importance (1893)
First produced by Herbert Beerbohm Tree at the Theatre Royal, Haymarket, London, on 19 April 1893.
First US production by Rose Coghlan at the Fifth Avenue Theatre, New York, on December 11, 1893.
First published by John Lane, Bodley Head, 9 October 1894. (https://bit.ly/36c3CYL)
GENESIS
“The moment that Lady Windermere’s Fan became the chief topic of conversation in social circles, Tree asked Oscar Wilde to write a play for the Haymarket. While toying lazily with his next drawing-room drama, Wilde met Tree and said: ‘As Herod in my Salomé you would be admirable. As a peer of the realm in my latest dramatic device, pray forgive me if I do not see you.’ … ‘Before you can successfully impersonate the character I have in mind, you must forget that you ever played Hamlet; you must forget that you ever played Falstaff; above all you must forget that you ever played a Duke in a melodrama by Henry Arthur Jones.’ – Tree: ‘I’ll do my best.’ – Wilde: ‘I think you had better forget that you have ever acted at all.’ – Tree: ‘Why.’ – Wilde: ‘Because this witty aristocrat whom you wish to assume in my play is quite unlike anyone who has been seen on the stage before. He is like no one who has existed before.’ – Tree: ‘My God! he must be supernatural.’ – Wilde: ‘He is certainly not natural. He is a figure of art. Indeed, if you can bear the truth, he is MYSELF.’“ (Pearson, Beerbohm Tree, p. 65)
“Wilde wrote A Woman Of No Importance in 1892-1893 for Herbert Beerbohm Tree, who had been actor-manager of the Haymarket Theatre since 1887. The play began as a sketch book of early working drafts. Wilde then composed a full manuscript draft of the play under the working title of Mrs. Arbuthnot in four separate manuscript books (British Library MS Add. 37944 [see below no. 5]) which he subsequently revised heavily. He then had these four revised manuscript books made into a fair typescript copy. (There is clear evidence that he was still revising the final acts while the first acts were being typed.) Thereafter the process of revision and correction becomes a little obscure. … However at this point in the play’s genesis, Wilde passed a typescript copy or copies to Tree. Here the textual scholar is on much firmer ground. Tree preserved his copies of the play, together with his own, his company’s and Wilde revisions to them [see below “Promptbooks / Production Papers].“ (Jackson and Small, “Some New Drafts“, p. 8)
“Wilde began work on the play around July or August 1892 for the actor-manager Herbert Beerbohm Tree.“ (Beckson, Encyclopedia, p. 417)
“On 19 August 1892 Constance wrote triumphantly to tell Georgina [Lady Mount Temple] that she and Oscar were off to Grove Farm, Felbrigg, near Cromer, ‘where Oscar will write his play and I shall vegetate and do nothing’.“ (Moyle, p. 201)
“So on 20 August … Constance and Oscar arrived at Felbrigg with a view to staying there until the end of the first week in September.“ (ibid., p. 205)
“… Oscar was so enjoying the rural idyll that he had decided to extend their stay there until 17 September. His morning writing was going well, and he felt he could finish the play.“ (ibid., p. 205)
“The first two acts of A Woman of no [sic] Importance were written in London and Babbacombe, the last two in a still extant farmhouse near Cromer [Grove Farm, Felbrigg], where Wilde took his family for a few weeks in the late summer of ’92.“ (Pearson, Beerbohm Tree, p. 65)
“As regards the play: I have written two acts, and had them set up by the type-writer: the third is nearly done, and I hope to have it all ready in ten days or a fortnight at most.
The American rights I have already sold the refusal of. … But the English rights are quite free. If you will send me your dates I would read it to you somewhere about the end of this month.
I find Cromer excellent for writing, and golf still better.“ (letter to Herbert Beerbohm Tree, c. 1 September 1892, Complete Letters pp. 535-6)
“Oscar is writing a play which my brother will probably have, but this is a secret.“ (Max Beerbohm to Reginald Turner, Sept. 1892, in Hart-Davis (ed.), Max Beerbohm – Letters to Reginald Turner, p. 25)
“By the way, do you know that the play has been finally accepted by my brother.“ (Max Beerbohm to Reginald Turner, Friday, ?14 Oct. 1892, ibid., p. 27)
“The Haymarket company having reached Glasgow in October [1892], Wilde arrived to read his play. and for three days there was much laughing, eating and drinking at the Central Station Hotel, where a contract was drawn up and signed. (Pearson, Beerbohm Tree, p. 67)
“It was in Glasgow that Oscar Wilde came to stay with us, bringing us the completed manuscript of A Woman of No Importance. This occupied three days of delighted listening, planning, and – inevitable in his society – laughter, badinage, partridges, oysters, champagne; feasts of no particular reason, flow of no memorable soul.“ (Max Beerbohm, Herbert Beerbohm Tree, p. 77)
“My dear Tree, I hereby agree to assign you the rights in my play entitled A Woman of No Importance for performance in Great Britain and Ireland, on condition that you produce it at the Haymarket Theatre after Hypatia (reserving to yourself the right to interpose revival) … .“ (13 October 1892, Complete Letters, p. 536)
“The success of Lady Windermere’s Fan had clearly put Wilde in a strong negotiating position, for the contract secured him a considerable percentage of the play’s takings, in spite of the fact that it was not yet completed.“ (Eltis, Revising Wilde, p. 100)
“You know ‘A Woman of No Importance’ was written for me. Wilde had the idea of the character of Lord Illingworth for me and he came to me with it. I was playing in Belfast when he wrote the play, and he came there so that I could help him. … I remember sitting up night after night in our rooms at the hotel, drinking porter and eating roast beef, while the play was in process of formation. Wilde would pace up and down, up and down.“ (interview Herbert Beerbohm Tree, The New York Times, April 30, 1916, p. 79)
“This retrospectively rosy version of their collaboration is contradicted not only by the fact that Wilde actually composed the play in Cromer, but by Tree himself, who told his biographer, Hesketh Pearson, that he produced A Woman of No Importance ‘With the interference of Wilde’. The version Tree’s company performed was not precisely the version which Wilde published a year later, a fact which suggests that Wilde’s own intentions and the demands of the popular commercial stage were not always in accord.“ (Eltis, Revising Wilde, pp. 101-2)
“Oscar was determined to work hard, and indeed during his stay [at Babbacombe Cliff], which lasted into March, he finished A Woman of No Importance and most of A Florentine Tragedy, a play in blank-verse. He also started to put together another play, to be called La Sainte Courtisane. (Amor, Mrs Oscar Wilde, p. 116)
“Rehearsals started at the end of March ’93, and Tree thought Wilde fussy over minor points. In the script used by the author at rehearsals there are several jottings in his handwriting: ‘Tree’s question far too theatrical’ (when Illingworth asks Mrs Allonby how long she gives him to convert to the puritan) – ‘Don’t like your false exit’ (Illingworth’s at the end of act 2) – ‘Tree not emphasize this’ (Illingworth on youth at the beginning of Act 3). Wilde wanted his action to be natural, and he was a bit worried over Tree’s tendency to attitudinize.“ (Pearson, Beerbohm Tree, p. 68)
“I was at several of those rehearsals, and Oscar was always there. Herbert had known him for many years, and, as you say, always delighted greatly in his company.“ (Max Beerbohm, quoted in ibid., p. 69)
“That Wilde would accept an actor’s advice is proved by the omission of Illingworth’s speech to his natural son Gerald Arbuthnot at the commencement of Act 3.“ (ibid.)
About the inspiration of rehearsal: “He [Herbert Beerbohm Tree] particularly quotes one brilliant example – the late Oscar Wilde – who, at a given hint would at rehearsal ‘quietly retire into a corner, emerging therefrom half an hour later, with a completed new scene, instinct with the liveliest humor and most sparkling wit.’ Mr. Tree rather speaks as if this were a habit of the author of ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ … . “ (The Globe, 5 Sept. 1912, in Mason, Oscar Wilde Scrapbook v8_025to066, p. [14])
“A marvelous man he was, too, at rehearsals. I used to say that such or such a scene did not exactly suit, and Wilde would answer, ’Don’t stop. Go right on with the rehearsal.’ And while we proceeded he would write off a new scene. He did not mind having suggestions made about his work. He was too big for that. … Many, many times I have inserted things in his plays that he said off-hand.“ (interview Herbert Beerbohm Tree, in The New York Times, April 30, 1916, p 79)
“Dear Miss Marbury, I hope you like the play, and that Frohman [American impresario] also is pleased with it. The real title as I wired to you is A Woman of No Importance. There are some cuts to be made, and I don’t know if the Americans, a sensitive, over-sensitive people, will be annoyed at some foolish good-natured badinage about their country in the second act. If so, and you would know better than I do, we could cut there: the lines are merely light comedy lines of no particular value, except to Lord Illingworth.
… With regard to new play, it would be better to produce it in the autumn, would it not? after the Haymarket production is in full swing. I would not like it produced before, as the ultimate version must be the version produced under the direct supervision of the author. I need not tell you, with your experience and artistic instinct, how a play grows at rehearsal, and what new points one can introduce. Besides, it would damage my London production, and I promised Tree that he shall have the first production: it is to be produced after Hypatia – I expect in April next, but don’t know.
… If Frohman won’t have the play, you must get Palmer to do it: and make great terms.“ (letter to Elisabeth Marbury, February 1893, Complete Letters, pp. 549-50)
“In my new play there are very few men’s parts – it is a woman’s play – and I am of course limited to some degree to the stock company at the Haymarket.“ (letter to Oswald Yorke, late February 1893, ibid., p. 558)
“I return corrected proofs. The title-page, dedication, playbill etc. have not yet come … I wish the reader would go through the play once and correct any slips in the use of ‘will’ and ‘shall’ – my use of the words is Celtic not Saxon […].
This book should be out by the end of October. I have to get A Woman of No Importance copyrighted simultaneously in America (please mark copyright as in Lady Windermere’s Fan. This is most important) … I think the book can be out … when the play goes on tour … should have a good sale at Liverpool where it has been lectured on and formed a text for reckless sermons.“ (letter to John Lane, August 1894, ibid., pp. 604-5)
“I hope the notice of the American copyright is duly inserted into A Woman of No Importance: it is most important.“ (letter to John Lane, 3 September 1894, ibid., p. 606)
“In consideration of the sum of twenty pounds (£20) for which this is a receipt, I hereby assign to Leonard Smithers, Publisher, the copyright of the publication and printing of my two plays Lady Windermere’s Fan and the Woman of No Importance Oscar Wilde, Paris, Aug. 22 ’99“ (letter to Leonard Smithers, 22 August 1899, ibid., p. 1163)
“Some manuscript and type-written copy of A Woman of No Importance fetched £5 15s.“ (“Sale of Wilde’s Effects“, The Globe, London, 25 April 1895, p. 7)
“… many drafts of A Woman of No Importance have survived, particularly in the archive preserved by Herbert Beerbohm Tree, whose company staged its first performance at the Haymarket Theatre in 1893.“ (Small, “General Introduction“, p. xiii)
“The sheer number of drafts [of Wilde’s plays] (over twenty for some acts of A Woman of No Importance) and the extent and complexity of the revisions made to them, came as a surprise to modern critics.“ (Guy and Small, Oscar Wilde’s Profession, p. 244)
“Perhaps the best example of this element of Wilde*s creativity, his practice of constantly revising and his openness to the opinions of others, can be seen in the Herbert Beerbohm Tree collection in the University of Bristol. The various typescripts of Act III of A Woman of No Importance show revisions being made by a number of quite different hands. Interestingly Wilde went along with some of these alterations through the rehearsal text of the play (and so presumably to the text of the first performance) and kept them when he prepared the reading version of the play which was published by the Bodley Head in 1894.“ (Small, “Editing Wilde“, p. 38)
“… it seems to be the case that the revisions evidenced in the typescript and manuscript drafts of plays such as A Woman of No Importance and The Importance of Being Earnest represent changes made for specific and local circumstances; they do not, in other words, follow any teleological pattern.“ (Jackson and Small, “Oscar Wilde: A ‘Writerly’ Life“, p. 3)
NOTES, DRAFTS, MANUSCRIPTS
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Present Location |
Shelfmark |
Provenance |
Catalogue Entries / Notes |
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1. Autograph Notes 73 folios / 124 pages [late 1891/early 1892]
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Eccles Collection
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Add MS 81622 digital copy: |
bequeathed to the BL in 2003 |
“Sketchbook containing draft notes including plot lines, dialogues and lists of characters for Oscar Wilde’s play, A Woman of No Importance, a comedy examining the morals of Victorian English upper class society. It was first produced by Sir Herbert Beerbohm at the Haymarket Theatre on 19 April 1893. In 1895, it was due to go on tour in America, but it was cancelled in response to Wilde’s arrest. Sketchbook containing plot outlines, dialogues and lists of characters. From the Jerome Kern and Prescott Collections. Black cloth cover and grey card slipcase.“ |
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[on folio 11r in Wilde’s handwriting: Act 4 / a man of no importance. / Curtain (the last line in the final play)] |
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Eccles Collection |
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Mary Hyde / Viscountess Eccles |
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?John F. Fleming / ?Jonathan Hill |
“Fleming bought most of the other Wilde autographs as well [see The Importance of Being Earnest, no. 10], except for a couple that went to Jonathan Hill, who was seated next to a representative of the Clark Library in Los Angeles.“ |
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The Prescott Collection: Printed Books and Manuscripts, including an extensive collection of books and manuscripts by Oscar Wilde, Christie, Manson & Woods (Christie’s), New York, February 6, 1981, lot 428 |
“Autograph working notes for A Woman of No Importance [probably late 1891 or early 1892], written mostly in pencil in a small 4to copybook of 73 leaves of lined paper, bound in black oilcloth, with a total of 124 pages in Wilde’s holograph, first leaf with corner torn away and 4-inch tear affecting several words, cloth slipcase. This manuscript, described in the Kern sale catalogue as a first draft, is more accurately a preliminary sketch-book, consisting of plot outlines, passages of dialogue (some brief, others quite extensive), aphorisms and random inspirations: material intended to be incorporated into a subsequent manuscript, probably the first draft. Wilde has crossed out most of the passages as they were worked into his later manuscript at the proper place. The writing is hurried, often abbreviated, and little organization is apparent; sections of dialogue occur at random, marked with the number of the Act to which they belong. Lists of characters, some with brief characterizations, occur at fols.1v, 4r, 16v (men only). Many of their names differ from those subsequently adopted. Most notably, Gerald Arbuthnot, who is listed at fol.1r, figures in most of the dialogue with the name ‘Aleck,’ the same used in an early draft in the British Library. Hester Worsley here bears the name ‘Mabel Farnleigh,’ a form also present in the later manuscript. The various acts are outlined in several places: at fol.28r Wilde has noted of Act ÎI, ‘fin de siècle conversation on marriage’; at fol.72v he has carefully outlined the entrances and exits of the characters in Act I, while he has noted of Act Ill at fol.41v: ‘She consents to let her son go – then comes climax …’ Various twists of the plot are set down as reminders: at fol.20v Wilde has scrawled: ‘letter must be torn up.’ Many of the play’s most memorable epigrams are strewn haphazardly through the manuscript, apparently jotted down as they occured [sic] to the author. Best-known among these are the lines: ‘I know your idea of health. The English country gentlemen galloping after a fox. The unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable,’ which are inscribed at fol.34v. At fol.24v Wilde has written, ‘Religion is so close to us we cannot see its beauty, so far from us we cannot see its use,’ and at fol.68r he has noted, ‘[women are]’ sphinxes without secrets, men are oracles without wisdom.’ Many important sections of dialogue occur here in a form closely resembling the later published version. For example, Mrs Arbuthnot’s eloquent soliloquy on motherhood from Act IV occupies fols. 22 to 24; her explanation of Gerald’s clouded parentage in Act II appears at fols. 45 to 52, while the emotional confrontation between Hester, Gerald and his mother is given in great detail on fols. 55 to 57 [sold for $7,000, see Christie’s price-list] [facsimile of autograph page, see sale catalogue, facing p. 191] |
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Marjorie Wiggin Prescott |
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Library of Jerome Kern, Part Two, J-Z, Anderson Galleries, New York, January 21-24, 1929, lot 1455 |
“The First Draft of the Original Manuscript of ‘A Woman of No Importance’.Small 4to, black oil cloth covered exercise book. In a morocco bound cloth slip case. A number of leaves bear evidence of a lull in the poet’s imagination and concentration – crude drawings of heads, geometrical figures, meaningless scribblings, indicate the human side of the machine – man – who proves his humanity by the very fact that the brain sometimes refuses to function. It is not only an important manuscript, but it is a most interesting one, for the reason that there is abundant evidence to show how Wilde wrote his play. One can see the working of his mind in the apparently disjointed notes, but we discover that these have been utilized in their proper place, at the proper time, and in the proper manner. …“ fetched $550 |
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“MS., first draft of ‘A Woman of No Importance,’ 123 pp, in sm. 4to exercise book covered in black oil cloth, in mor. case. Z (1445) $550.00“ |
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Jerome Kern |
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“The final session [of the Kern sale] on the evening of 24 January was the dullest. The boys were tired. … Neither Wilde nor Wordsworth generated bidding battles. Six stanzas of The Ballad of Reading Goal fetched $1,600, and the 123-page manuscript of A Woman of No Importance realized only $550.“ |
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A Catalogue of a Collection of Rare English Black-Letter Books, the Property of a Gentleman; Valuable Books from the Library of the late Rt. Hon. C. G. Milnes Gaskell, with Other Properties, Hodgson & Co, London, 26-27 June 1924, lot 321 |
“Original Manuscript of a first draft of ‘A Woman of No Importance’ (1894 [sic]), scribbled in pencil, and mostly crossed through as the Author worked over them in revision, on about 115 pp. of a 4to note-book.“ |
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“Besides the unpublished Wilde manuscript [‘The Woman Covered with Jewels’] in the sale at Hodgson’s there are the holograph manuscripts of the last part of Wilde’s essay ‘The Rise of Historical Criticism’; the greater part of the manuscript of ‘The Duchess of Padua’; the original first draft of ‘Vera; or, The Nihilists’; the first draft of ‘A Woman of No Importance’ and the second draft, with the first inception of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ which Wilde commenced under the title of ‘The Guardian’; an early sketch of ‘An Ideal Husband’ and the typescript of the first act, together with a typed revision. … It is notable that in the first copy the title is deleted and ‘The Foolish Journalist’ substituted, and afterwards struck out. In the revised copy the title is omitted altogether.“ |
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[Gaskell was probably not the owner of Wilde’s manuscripts, judging by the catalogue entry: “Other Properties“] |
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?Vyvyan Holland |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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?Robert Ross |
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2. Autograph Notes ?Second draft (together with manuscript notes of The Importance of Being Earnest, 3 pages, plus 4 extra pages) 45 pages |
unknown |
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A Catalogue of a Collection of Rare English Black-Letter Books, the Property of a Gentleman; Valuable Books from the Library of the late Rt. Hon. C. G. Milnes Gaskell, with Other Properties, Hodgson & Co, London, 26-27 June 1924, lot 322 |
“The Original Manuscript of a second draft of ‘A Woman of No Importance,’ written in ink and pencil, on about 45 pp., with the very first inception of ‘The Importance of being Earnest’ which Wilde commenced under the title of ‘The Guardian,’ on 3 pp., and ‘Some slight half-truths for the use of Schools,’ on 4pp., in a 4to note-book.“ |
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“Besides the unpublished Wilde manuscript [‘The Woman Covered with Jewels’] in the sale at Hodgson’s there are the holograph manuscripts of the last part of Wilde’s essay ‘The Rise of Historical Criticism’; the greater part of the manuscript of ‘The Duchess of Padua’; the original first draft of ‘Vera; or, The Nihilists’; the first draft of ‘A Woman of No Importance’ and the second draft, with the first inception of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ which Wilde commenced under the title of ‘The Guardian’; an early sketch of ‘An Ideal Husband’ and the typescript of the first act, together with a typed revision. … It is notable that in the first copy the title is deleted and ‘The foolish Journalist’ substituted, and afterwards struck out. In the revised copy the title is omitted altogether.“ |
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[Gaskell was probably not the owner of Wilde’s manuscripts, judging by the catalogue entry: “Other Properties“] |
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?Vyvyan Holland |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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?Robert Ross |
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3. Autograph Notes (together with manuscript notes of The Importance of Being Earnest) [1894] |
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
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W6721M2 N911 no digital copy |
1929 |
“Wilde, Oscar. “Notes of aphorisms and dialogue used in A woman of no importance and The importance of being earnest. 1894 |
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“[Notes of aphorisms and dialogue used in A woman of no importance and The importance of being earnest] |
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A Collection of Original Manuscripts, Letters and Books of Oscar Wilde, including his letters written to Robert Ross from Reading Gaol and Unpublished Letters, Poems & Plays formerly in the Possession of Robert Ross, C. S. Millard (Stuart Mason) and the Younger Son of Oscar Wilde, Dulau & Company, London, n. d. [1928], item 3 |
“A WOMAN OF NOT IMPORTANCE and THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING EARNEST. |
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Vyvyan Holland |
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Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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Robert Ross |
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4. Autograph Manuscript two pages [n.d.] |
unknown |
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[almost certainly a forgery] |
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Kim Herzinger, book dealer, Greenwich Village |
[Gardner, Anthony, “The Oscar Wilde Forgeries“, Sunday Times Magazine, [8 July] 2007, see https://bit.ly/3fu033s] |
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“… the three leather-bound volumes being touted in that last week of April [2007] by the owner of a small shop in Greenwich Village. Kim Herzinger explained that the volumes contained six Oscar Wilde manuscripts recently inherited by one of his clients. Here in the Irish genius’s hand were the opening of A Woman of No Importance; a fragment of another play, never published or produced [‘La Sainte Courtisane’]; a letter; a poem; the essay The Tomb of Keats. Most exciting of all, there was the manuscript of one of Wilde’s best-love stories, The Happy Prince, which even if sold separately could be expected to fetch £200,000 or more – provided it was genuine. … Kim Herzinger acknowledges that there are difficulties with the New York manuscripts, among them a lack of provenance: ‘They were bought by a relative of the owner back in 1935, who was a very, very good book collector but not a Wilde expert, and we don’t know where he bought them or who from.“ |
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Books, Autographs, Manuscripts from the Libraries of Mrs Frederick A. DePeyster, James M. Kennedy, and Others, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Feb. 9, 1932, lot 276 |
Autograph Manuscript, signed, 34 pp., 4to. ‘The Happy Prince.’ Bound in red crushed levant morocco, gilt tooled, by Zaehnsdorf. … Bound in at the end are the first two pages of |
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“Several Oscar Wilde items will be offered. The autograph manuscripts include ‘La Sainte Courtisans [sic],’ a fragment; ‘The Happy Prince’ inscribed to Leonard Smithers, written In purple ink on lavender paper, with the first two pages of the autograph manuscript of ‘A Woman of No Importance’ bound in; ‘A Florentine Tragedy’ and ‘The Tomb of Keats,’ with an autograph letter signed by Wilde and a poetical manuscript bound in. In this group also Is an autograph manuscript of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest,’ apparently the first draft of Wilde’s famous comedy, divided into two acts. It is believed that Wilde later expanded the latter part, making it a four-act play.“ |
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“Six Oscar Wilde items were withdrawn yesterday afternoon from an auction sale of rare books, autographs and manuscripts at the American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, Inc. The galleries declined to reveal the name of the owner but announced that he had withdrawn them, because of ‘a question of title.’ The catalogue of the sale listed the items as important Wilde manuscripts. One was described as ‘the autograph manuscript of one of Wilde’s masterpieces, ‘The Happy Prince.’’ Another was called *the autograph manuscript of ‘A Florentine Tragedy.’ Others were catalogued as the autograph manuscript of“ ‘La Sainte Courtisane,’ autograph manuscript of ‘The Tomb of Keats,’ autograph manuscript of ‘The Importance of Being Earnest’ and a copy of ‘SaIomé’ with two autograph letters by Wilde.“ |
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5. Autograph Draft 4 Acts 210 pages / 276 folios Act I Act II Act III Act IV n.d. [1892- 1893] |
British Library
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Add MS 37944 digital copy: |
presented by Robert Ross in 1909 (together with mss of “Lady Windermere’s Fan“ [see no. 5], “A Woman of No Importance“ [see no. 6], “An Ideal Husband“ [see nos. 4 and 10], “The Importance of Being Earnest“ [see no. 5], plus additional mss, i.e. “The Sphinx“ [no. 8], “De Profundis“) |
“Autograph draft of Oscar Wilde’s play, A Woman of No Importance , titled Mrs Arbuthnot , with many corrections and additions. Gerald Arbuthnot is named Aleck in Acts I-III, but Gerald in Act IV; Hester is named Mabel throughout. First performed at the Haymarket Theatre, 19 April 1893, and published in 1894.“ British Library binding British Museum stamps Act IV, starting with folios 213-220 (pages 1-2 E, written in Wilde’s hand), folios 221-276 (pages 1-55, written in Wilde’s hand) written from the back, upside down |
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“The British Library manuscript entitled Mrs Arbuthnot (BLMS) is the first full draft of A Woman of No Importance. … The British Library manuscript was originally written in four separate manuscript books each containing one of the four acts. At the beginning of each Wilde wrote ‘This book belongs to Oscar Wilde, 16 Tite Street, Chelsea’. These inscriptions are strong evidence for Wilde having changed his mind about either the opening or the structure of Act IV, for some time during the course of writing this act (in late 1892), Wilde turned his manuscript book upside down and wrote the eight leaves (ff. 213-220) that formed, after deletions and revisions, the beginning of the act in the later drafts. Subsequently BLMS itself underwent three different kinds of corrections and it seems likely that these correspond to three separate revisions. There are corrections to the original script made in black ink – some probably made, that is, during the course of the composition; corrections made in lead pencil and corrections (which seem to be Wilde’s last revision of this draft) made in red pencil.“ |
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Robert Ross |
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6. Two Typewritten Manuscripts [1892-1893] 178 folios First Typescript Act II Act III Act IV Second Typescript Act II Act III Act IV n.d. [1892-1893] |
British Library
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Add MS 37945 digital copy: |
presented by Robert Ross in 1909 (together with mss of “Lady Windermere’s Fan“ [see no. 5], “A Woman of No Importance“ [see no. 5], “An Ideal Husband“ [see nos. 4 and 10], “The Importance of Being Earnest“ [see no. 5], plus additional mss, i.e. The Sphinx [no. 8], “De Profundis“) |
“Two typed versions of Oscar Wilde’s play Mrs Arbuthnot, later retitled, A Woman of No Importance, with autograph corrections. The second version (f. 92) is nearer to the final printed version. At folio 92 is a suggested cast, differing considerably from the actual cast at the Haymarket Theatre, 19 April 1893. Aleck is named Gerald in Acts III-IV; Hester is named Mabel throughout, but at folio 92v is the query, ‘? Ruth. some nice New England name – Mary’.” both MSS have the stamp of Mrs Marshall’s Type Writing Office, 126, Strand British Library binding British Museum stamps |
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“… the earlier draft is ff. 1-91, the latter ff. 92-178.“ |
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“Acts I and II (ff. 1-51) are a faithful (and expertly typed) transcription of Wilde’s final revisions to BLMS [see no. 5]. Acts III and IV, however, are from a much later stage in the play’s revisions; they are unlike Acts I and II in a number of important details, and are certainly of a later date than the C typescript [see no. 7].“ |
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“BLii is, like BLi, composed of acts which originate from different times in the play’s composition. Acts II and III are marked by a series of further revisions away from the text of either BLMS [see no. 5], BLi or C [see no. 7] and generally, too, these revisions follow the pattern of minor verbal substitutions or deletion of sentences or speeches. The names of the characters (including all the minor ones) and the references to places or titles are the same as in the first edition. Acts I and IV seem to be of an earlier date than the two other acts. The names Aleck and Mabel are used consistently in Act I of this draft and Lord Alfred’s part (but, as in the C typescript [see no. 7], under the name of Lord Arthur) is included in this version. The time of the transcription and revision of Act I of BLii, then, seems to be nearer to that of C than any other draft. It seems likely, however, that Act IV is earlier.“ |
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Robert Ross |
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7. Typewritten Manuscript 4 Acts 87 leaves [1893] |
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library
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W6721M2 W872 no digital copy |
purchased in December 1933, from A. S. W. Rosenbach |
“Wilde, Oscar. “Mrs. Arbuthnot. i.e. A woman of no importance. 1893 [bookplates of Clarence S. Bement and John B, Stetson, Jr.] |
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“Mrs Arbuthnot. [i.e. A woman of no importance] |
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“[This typescript] is also an early typescript although it incorporates some revisions and deletions that are not in Acts I and II of BLi [see nos. 6.1.I. and 6.1.II.] and hence it seems likely that it was produced at a slightly later date. … most of the revisions take the form of a substitution of single words or phrases or the large-scale deletions of exchanges, speeches or parts of speeches. … The typescript is revised throughout in manuscript to the form of the later drafts, although it is impossible to assign authority to those revisions.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $285 |
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The Splendid Library formed by the late Edward Dean Richmond, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Nov. 2-3, 1933, lot 377 |
“ |
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“Typed copy of ‘A Woman of No Importance,’ with corrections comprising over 1,500 words in autograph, mainly in pencil; substantially the same as the printed version. The four acts bound separately, 4to, cont. paper, wire stitching; in tooled mor. case (Bement-Stetson bookplates). N (377) $285.00.“ |
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Edward Dean Richmond |
“By a provision in his will his books and manuscripts are to be sold for the benefit of the Kips Bay Boys Club of New York.“ |
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Books – Manuscripts – Drawings of Superlative Importance Acquired by or for a Noted Philadelphia Collector, American Art Association, New York, April 16-18, 1923, lot 985 i.e. “Mr Hughes“ |
“ Although the text agrees very closely with the printed version, the fact that ‘Gerald Arbuthnot’ is called ‘Aleck’ throughout, excepting in some half dozen instances in the last act, and ‘Hester’ is named ‘Mabel’ throughout, would make it appear that this is one of the earlier drafts of the play, as these names were changed in the later versions. The list of ‘Dramatis personae’ written by Wilde himself in pencil on the first leaf gives the names as ‘Gerald’ and ‘Hester.’ From the C. S. Bement – J. B. Stetson, Jr., collections, with bookplate of each.“ |
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Colonel H. D. Hughes |
sold to Hughes, Sept. 18, 1920 |
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“Many of these items [of the Stetson sale] – fifty-one of Rosenbach’s purchases at the auction, in fact – were destined for Colonel H. D. Hughes, as is clear from the extensive listing in Rosenbach’s sales records. … Hughes, a collector for Pennsylvania, curiously paid off his sizable balance primarily through daily installments of $100.00.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $120 |
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“At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr. Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor.“ |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 103 |
“A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. Author’s Typewritten Copy of ‘A Woman of No Importance.’ The Four Acts bound separately, enclosed in silk cover, and preserved in a full red straight-grain morocco solander case, back handsomely tooled in pointillé. |
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“Author’s typewritten copy of A Woman of No Importance. With MS. correction by the author. (Book-plate of Clarence S. Bement.) The four acts bound separately, in silk cover and mor. case. Stetson, A., April 23, ’20. (103) $210.00.“ |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
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Clarence S. Bement |
bookplate |
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?Vyvyan Holland |
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?Christopher Millard / Stuart Mason |
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Robert Ross |
“A third typescript which also belonged to Ross and was bought by the Clark Library after his death, is a later version, probably that used by Elkin Mathews and John Lane when they published the play as a book.“ [according to the Clark Library (mail of 27 Aug. 2021) there is no such typescript in their collection] |
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8. Typewritten Manuscript Acts I and II |
unknown |
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[belonging to Acts III and IV (see no. 9) – were never on the market] |
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9. Typewritten Manuscript Acts III and IV Act III Act IV |
unknown |
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[Acts I and II of this manuscript (no. 8) are also missing. See no. 10: three copies of Act II] |
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Two Hundred Books from the Library of Richard Butler Glaenzer, Anderson Auction Company, New York, Nov. 28, 1911, lot 156 |
“A Woman of No Importance. Acts III and IV. Original Typewritten MSS. on heavy paper, the names of characters (on margins) and stage directions, underscored in red ink in prescribed form, with text on the face of the sheet only. Title-pages to both acts. Act III, 17 pages of text; Act IV, 14 pages of text. 2 vols. 4to (101/2 x 81/2 inches), heavy brown paper covers (like all Wilde’s plays MSS.), bearing the stamp: ‘Mrs Marshall’s Type Writing Office, 126, Strand,’ title on label [circ. 1894].“ “By internal evidence an intermediate draft. The printed version of the play differs from present text in many ways. The revisions and amplifications made in the fourth act in particular are a doubtful improvement on this earlier version, of special interest in containing a number of amusing and brilliant unpublished passages, e.g. the cynical Lord Illingworth’s witty denunciation of Puritanism (Act III) and his remarks on America. |
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Richard Butler Glaenzer |
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Catalogue of Extremely Rare Books, First and Scarce Editions of Famous Authors, Early Printed Books, Rare Bindings and Manuscripts, Private Press Editions, The Merwin-Clayton Sales Co., New York, May 16-18, 1906, lot 833 |
“A Woman of No Importance. Acts III and IV. Original typewritten Manuscript. 2 pieces. 8vo, paper covers.“ |
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10. Typewritten Manuscript 4 Acts 129 pages Act I Act II.1 Act II.2 Act II.3 Act III Act IV n. d. [1893] |
Harry Ransom Center, University of Texas, Austin, TX
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MS-4515 digital copy: |
acquired from El Dieff in July 1970 |
“Typescript with author revisions and notes by Herbert Beerbohm Tree and other person(s). 129 pages.“
[All Acts are stamped “Mrs Marshall’s Type Writing Office, 126, Strand“. Each Act starting with page 1. Three different typewritten versions of Act II, textual identical, but with different corrections, emendations] |
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“All the acts are heavily emended in manuscript, but the authority of these corrections is difficult to establish. Nonetheless, [this typescript] represents a significant moment in the production of the final text because it appears to have been the source (but not the copy-text) for both LC [Lord Chamberlain’s copy, no. 14] and the first edition.“ |
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“TMS with A[utograph] revisions in several hands; identifiable are those of Wilde and Beerbohm Tree. 129ff. in six books. All acts typed at Mrs Marshall’s Type Writing Office, 128 Strand. One draft of Acts I, II [i.e. III] and IV; three copies, in different states, of Act III [i.e. II], one containing a paste-up of MS fragments. Act I Corrections only infrequently in Wilde’s hand. [most corrections, in pencil, are not in Wilde’s hand] Plans for stage set on verso of f.17. Act II (first copy): passages marked for deletion and revision mainly in Wilde/s hand in both pen and ink; in ff. 16-19 passages marked for deletion in Wilde’s hand and ‘I don’t think so’ on f. 16 also in his hand, an indication perhaps that the draft was being read by different individuals on different occasions. Act II (second copy): mainly unattributable deletions. At one point Wilde writes “Mrs. Tree must not emphasize here too much“ (Maud Tree was playing Mrs Allonby). Ff. 15 and 16 are in manuscript in two hands, neither of which is Wilde’s. These folios are formed from passages taken from different sheets of paper, pasted together to form one sheet, one of which is Haymarket Theatre notepaper. This copy ends at f. 16 and is unfinished. Act II (third copy): has the same manuscript corrections as the second copy. Deletions and revisions not in Wilde’s hand and in two sorts of pencil. Act III contains Wilde/s corrections to verso and recto, and stage directions to Tree concerning the speech of Lord Illingworth about youth: ‘Tree not emphasise this.’ Business over the name of Harford marked for deletion in Wilde’s hand – ‘Cut writing.’ Verso has the direction: ‘With more emphasis.’ At f. 15 verso, opposite ‘Hester. Are you quite alone, Mrs Arbuthnot?,’ Tree writes ‘This is a bombshell / said suddenly.’ At f. 17 verso: Wilde writes (over Mrs Arbuthnot’s long speech) ‘No gesture at chair,’ relating perhaps to HBT stage directions suggested by Tree. Act IV has a rough stage plan on verso of title page, and stage directions which are not in Wilde/s hand. Throughout the act passages marked for deletion are in brown pencil, and the revisions in Wilde’s hand are on the facing verso.“ |
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“Some of these MS additions are stage directions from Wilde to Herbert Beerbohm Tree; others are Tree’s comments upon and interpretation of moments in the play. Taken together, these revisions constitute an interesting dialogue between manager and author about the play, and are evidence that some of the dramatic effects of the plays were the result of collaboration.“ |
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El Dieff (Lew D. Feldman) |
purchased for £1,800 |
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Modern First Editions, Presentation Copies, Autograph Letters and Literary Manuscripts, Sotheby’s, London, 8-9 Dec. 1969, lot 852 |
“The Property of the Trustees of Sir Herbert Beerbohm Tree A Woman of No Importance was first acted at the Haymarket Theatre on 19 April 1893. The present volumes were certainly used in the rehearsals for the first production, as is clear from Wilde’s references to the Trees, who were in the original cast. Moreover, the title Mrs. Arbuthnot is that which was adopted provisionally in order to prevent premature announcement of the play’s real title. (S. Mason, Bibliography of Oscar Wilde, 1914, p. 402). The play was first published over a year later, on 9 October 1894. The material in the present lot is as follows: Act I. One volume, Herbert Beerbohm Tree’s copy (with his autograph initials), containing many deletions and revisions in an unidentified hand, made during rehearsal. Acts II-IV. Three volumes (Wilde’s initials on the covers), containing his autograph deletions, revisions and notes. There are in addition two other copies for Act II. One, containing some autograph notes, is defective but extends to two-thirds of the text of this Act. The other copy, lacking only the final page, contains, in another hand, deletions and revisions and diagrams showing the position of the actors at various moments. The text of this manuscript (i.e. both the typescripts and the autograph revisions) differs in various ways from the published text. We note the following. (1.) The published text in some places omits dialogue. Thus in Act II Lord Illingworth remarks: ‘But don’t let us have a scene. Scenes are for the middle classes’; but the second sentence is omitted in the book (1909 edition, p. 91). Other examples are the omissions from the published text (p.105) of 22 lines of dialogue, and also (p. 125) of about 12 lines of dialogue which are in Wilde’s own hand. In Act IV (p. 147) the omission of six lines of dialogue has resulted in a non sequitur, which Wilde must have failed to notice. At the very end of the play the closing dialogue between Mrs. Arbuthnot, Hester and Gerald is longer than that printed (p. 182). (2.) As first performed, there were many cuts in the text, most of which were restored when the book was printed. (3.) The published text contains sentences and phrases not in the present rehearsal copies, indicating further revisions by Wilde. (4.) There are stage directions in the rehearsal copies which are not in the published book. (5.) Finally, these rehearsal copies contain valuable indications, in Wilde’s own hand, of the way in which he wanted the play to be acted at various points. A few examples: ‘this is a bombshell – said suddenly’; ‘must not be said too emphatically’; ‘very hard’; and ‘mother and son shd be very close to each other till [the words] marry me’. Some critical notes suggest that he found the acting of Herbert Beerbohm Tree and Mrs. Tree over-emphatic.“ |
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“Typescripts of all 4 acts of A Woman of No Importance [1893]. 129 leaves, 4to. bound in 6 cold (3 copies of Act II). Acts II-IV with autograph deletions, revisions & notes. S Dec 9 (852) £1,800 [El Dieff].“ |
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11. Typewritten Manuscript [n. d.] |
New York Public Library, New York, NY |
NCOF+ (Wilde, O. Woman of no importance) no digital copy |
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“1 v. (various paging), 27 cm.“ “Produced at the Henry C. Miner’s Theatre, New York, 1884 [i.e. 1894.“] |
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12. Proof Copy [?1894] |
William Andrews Clark Memorial Library |
*PR5820 W871 |
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“A / Woman of No Importance / By / Oscar Wilde / London / Elkin Mathews and John Lane At / The Sign of The Bodley Head In Vigo / Street MDCCCXCIV … Laid in this volume is the following letter written on Mathews’ stationary: ‘Cork Street London,W. Feb 11 1914 Dear Mr. Haslam I herewith return the two Wildes (i )A Woman of No Importance (2) Ditto – the proof copy If you could see your way to letting me buy back the latter I should be very much obliged Yours truly Elkin Mathews.’ This is the proof-copy of the earliest issue of the first edition, printed before the dissolution of the firm of Elkin Mathews and John Lane which took place in August, 1894. It was not published until October 9,1894. These sheets are of two varieties of paper and were evidently bound for Mathews as his ‘List of Books in Belles Lettres, 1895’ is included in the binding.This copy is unique as being the only one which bears the imprint of Mathews and Lane. A prompt-book edition of fifteen copies was printed later in 1894, but the collations, according to Mason, do not agree nor do the descriptions correspond. In the text are numerous editorial corrections, directed principally toward Wilde’s somewhat loose methods in the misuse of ‘shall’ and ‘will,’ and ‘would’ and ‘should. …’“ [one of fifty copies] |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased for $420 |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 98 |
“A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. Small 4to., original boards., parchment back, uncut. Inserted is an A.L.S. from Elkin Mathews to Mr Haslam: ‘I herewith return the two Wildes (1) A Woman of No Importance. (2) Ditto. The Proof copy. If you could see your way of letting me buy back the latter I should be very much obliged.’ At the end of the present volume are 20 pages advertising the publications of Elkin Mathews. There are a few pencil corrections on the margin.“ |
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“A Woman of No Importance, 4tp., orig. bds., parchment back, uncut, 1894 (An. Apr. 23; 98) $420.00 (£48). The proof copy, and the only copy with the imprint of Mathews and Lane. Inserted is a A.L.S. from Elkin Mathews to Mr Haslam. There are a few pencil corrections on the margin.“ |
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“The first proof of the title-page bore the imprint of Elkin Mathews and John Lane as in Lady Windermere’s Fan. The partnership dissolved in August 1894, Wilde’s works being assigned by arrangement to Mr John Lane.“s |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
bookplate |
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Elkin Mathews / Mr Haslam |
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13. Acting Edition “one of 15 copies“ September 20-25, 1894 |
unknown |
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?A. S. W. Rosenbach |
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The Splendid Library formed by the late Edward Dean Richmond, American Art Association, Anderson Galleries, New York, Nov. 2-3, 1933, lot 379 |
“A Woman of No Importance, 12mo, original orange wrappers, backstrip slightly chipped, inner portion of front wrapper frayed. In a half purple polished morocco slip case. London, 1894 |
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“Acting edition, autograph of author at foot of second leaf,; printed Sept. 20-25, 1894, for the production of the play in N. Y. London, 1894. 12mo Orig. paper, in hf. mor. case (backstop chipped, pasted down on title is typed copyright notice). N (379) $22.50.“ |
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Edward Dean Richmond |
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Colonel H. D. Hughes |
sold to Hughes, April 30, 1920 |
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“Many of these items [of the Stetson sale] – fifty-one of Rosenbach’s purchases at the auction, in fact – were destined for Colonel H. D. Hughes, as is clear from the extensive listing in Rosenbach’s sales records. … Hughes, a collector for Pennsylvania, curiously paid off his sizable balance primarily through daily installments of $100.00.“ |
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A. S. W. Rosenbach |
purchased by Rosenbach |
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“At the sale of the Stetson collection of Oscar Wilde at the end of April, 1920, Dr. Rosenbach swept the board almost clean, taking virtually every item of real importance. He had been a Wilde enthusiast since his college days, when it was avant-garde to be mauve. His enthusiasm had been shared by Colonel H. D. Hughes of Philadelphia, who spent over $10,000 at the sale, wisely entrusting his bids to the Doctor.“ |
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The Oscar Wilde Collection of John B. Stetson, Jr., Anderson Galleries, New York, April 23, 1920, lot 101 |
“A WOMAN OF NO IMPORTANCE. 12mo, original limp boards (one cover loose). In cloth case. London: EIkin Mathews and John Lane, 1894 With autograph of Oscar Wilde at foot of second leaf, One of 15 copies of this ‘Acting Edition’ were printed September 20-25, 1894, for the production of the play in New York. On the verso of back wrapper is the imprint of ’Jos, A. Walter, Book and Job Printer, 408 Second Ave., New York.’“ sold for $50 (see handwritten note in sale catalogue) |
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John B. Stetson, Jr. |
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14. Lord Chamberlain’s License Copy
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British Library
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Add MS 53524 (N) no digital copy |
[?September 1894] |
“LC is the first draft to bear the final title of the play. It is not as full a version of the play as T [see no. 11]. Many of the references to duplicity, scandals or sexual immorality are removed. Lord Illingworth is, except for one clear typing error, called Lord Brancaster throughout. … It is clear from the isolated use of the name and by the shortness of the draft generally that the LC typescript does not reflect Wilde’s final intentions for the play nor can it be taken as evidence of the text as it was performed at the Haymarket.“ |
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15. Library of Congress Copyright Copy
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Library of Congress Washington, DC |
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Sept. 28, 1894 |
Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870 to 1916, Volume 2, Library of Congress, Washington, 1918, p. 2604 |
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Promptbooks 19 April – 16 Aug. 1893 |
Herbert Beerbohm Tree Archive |
HBT/129 no digital copy |
acquired in 1973 |
“Promptbooks – A Woman Of No Importance, Haymarket Theatre, London: 4 promptbooks (set), 19/04/1893-16/08/1893“ |
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HBT/129/1-4: Individual soft bound books for Act I, Act II, Act III and Act IV. Each is typed in black with character names and stage directions double underlined in red (as per convention). Each has a label on the cover with the play title and act number. The front cover and the inside title page both carry the oval stamp of the typewriting office (more legible on the inside pages) – ‘Mrs. Marshall’s Type Writing Office 120, STRAND’. – Act I – 21 pages including title page. Some handwritten pencil annotations on the list of characters to indicate actor names There are no addresses and no signature from Oscar Wilde, nor dates. |
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“Typescript entitled A Woman of No Importance. An unmarked copy which incorporates corrections marked up in HBT 122. (This typescript appears to be a fair copy from which the Licensing Copy for the Lord Chamberlain’s Office was made.)“ |
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“Tree’s performance scripts of A Woman of No Importance, now housed at the University of Bristol, and [Lewis] Waller’s newly discovered prompt book for An Ideal Husband, held by Princeton University, offer stage texts of each work interlined and overwritten by author and actor-manager. Each provides blocking diagrams, set sketches, lighting cues and property lists that enable us to establish with some confidence the look and feel of theses plays during their first runs.“ |
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Production Papers 19 April – 16 Aug. 1893 |
Herbert Beerbohm Tree Archive |
HBT/18/1-21 no digital copy |
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“Production Papers – A Woman Of No Importance, Haymarket Theatre, London: 14 promptbooks (3 sets of 4); 7 partbooks, 19/04/1893-16/08/1893“ |
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a) HBT/18/1-4: four prompt books, one for each of the act. Miss Dickens’s Typewriting Office stamp. Typed with double red underlining for characters and stage directions plus stage layout sketch for each act. b) HBT/18/5-8: four prompt books, one for each act, all for Mrs Arbuthnot, but do not appear to be part books (compared to HBT/18/15-21). Stamp for Mrs Marshall’s Typewriting office. 120 Strand. Handwritten on front cover label of Act 1 – ‘Prompt Copy’. Annotation include Wilde’s hand. c) HBT/18/9 -14. Six prompt books (catalogue numbering does not follow act numbers) d) HBT/18/15-21: Part books for Mrs Allonby, Mrs Arbuthnot, Sir John, Lady Hunstanton, Lord Illingworth, Lady Stutfield, Lord Alfred. All with Mrs Marshall’s Type-Writing Office stamp. |
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Promptbooks c. 1893 |
Herbert Beerbohm Tree Archive |
HBT/122 no digital copy |
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“Promptbooks – A Woman Of No Importance, His Majesty’s Theatre, London: 4 promptbooks (set), c. 1893“ |
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HBT/122: Individual soft bound part books for the part (or role) of Mrs Arbuthnot. There are 4 books, one for each Act. Each is typed in black with character names and stage directions double underlined in red as per convention). The front cover and the inside title page both carry the oval stamp of the typewriting office (more legible on the inside pages) – ‘Mrs. Marshall’s Type Writing Office 120, STRAND’. – Act I – 23 pages including the title page All of these are heavily annotated in pencil and pen, with cuts, some small changes to lines, alterations to stage directions (e.g. entrances). |
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“Typescript entitled Mrs Arbuthnot marked ‘2nd.’ on the label. Marked up for corrections.“ |
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Promptbook / Production Papers 1893 |
Herbert Beerbohm Tree Archive |
HBT/114 no digital copy |
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“Production Papers – A Woman Of No Importance, provincial production:4 promptbooks (set); 13 partbooks, 1893“ |
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a) HBT/114/1-4: Individual soft bound books for Act I, Act II, Act III and Act IV, as per HBT/129 (above). b) HBT/114/5-17 are individual soft bound part books for the characters of: Lady Caroline Pontefract, Lady Hunstanton, Hester Worsley, Lady Stutfield and Alice (this one actually uses an Exercise book printed by W. Straker.), Dr Daubeny, Sir John Pontefract, Farquhar, Francis, Lord Alfred Rufford, Mrs Arbuthnot, Gerald Arbuthnot, Mrs Allonby, Lord Illingworth. |
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Autograph / Typewritten Manuscript |
unknown |
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Walter T, Spencer
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“After Wilde’s death I purchased the MSS. of ‘Lady Windermere’s Fan’ and ‘A Woman of No Importance,’ by private treaty. The two plays were written in ordinary cheap exercise books. They were purchased for very small sums, and I sold them for very small sums. To-day they are each worth a hundered times as much as I purchased and sold them for. The manuscripts differ from the published versions, several lines being omitted. One was, I remember, ‘It proves he wasn’t the son of his own father.’“ [possibly no. 5, with Robert Ross buying back the manuscript from Spencer] |
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Philip and A. S. W. Rosenbach, |
“I remember my brother Philip telling me that directly after the trial, he went into a famous bookshop in London, looking for manuscripts of Oscar Wilde. … To his surprise he saw on a table the original drafts of Wilde’s three plays The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, and Lady Windermere’s Fan. … It was obvious that the sooner [the bookseller] got those manuscripts out of his shop, the better he would feel. So my brother bought them immediately …“ |
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“Some manuscript and typewritten copy of A Woman of No Importance fetched £5 15s.“ |