The Artist as Philosopher

Abstract

passages and removing all direct references to Douglas. Editions of different length persisted, including a 1949 edition by Wilde’s son Vyvian Holland based upon a now lost typewritten manuscript. It was not until 1960 that the full manuscript was released by British Library after Ross donated it under the agreement that it would remained sealed for fifty years. Frankel offers readers not only the text in its entirety, but the text’s legacy in full. Frankel’s annotations provide the fullest possible account of these texts while also presenting them in a clear format for those looking to read the work uninterrupted by footnotes. Frankel places his annotations on the verso pages, leaving the text to take up pages on the recto side. In addition to page placement, Frankel’s notes are presented in a sans-serif font in contrast to the serifed font of Wilde’s prose. While this may seem like an unremarkable observation, it does come in handy in the few moments where Frankel’s voluminous notes—over five hundred for De Profundis alone—are so extensive that they continue on to a separate full two pages, recto and verso sides. While a much larger collection of Wilde’s writings might have included detailed accounts of the trials that lead to Wilde’s imprisonment, or perhaps a single edition of The Ballad of Reading Gaol or De Profundis would include a larger introduction about critical readings of these particular works, The Annotated Prison Writings of Oscar Wilde strikes an impressive balance that makes these works insightful to longtime scholars of Wilde, as well as accessible for students in the classroom (especially given the affordability of the book). It is a welcome addition to the continuing scholarly work of preserving Wilde’s brilliant and complicated legacy.