The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde: The First Uncensored Transcript of The Trial of Oscar Wilde vs. John Douglas (Marquess of Queensberry), 1895 [Hardcover]

Merlin Holland (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 4, 2003

London's Central Criminal Court Sessions Papers for April 1895 were blunt, declaring that "the details of this case are unfit for publication." The case was Oscar Wilde's first trial, a libel action brought against the Marquess of Queensberry for publicly calling him a homosexual. What unfolded in the court was one of Victorian London's most infamous scandals: the great, doomed love affair between Wilde and Lord Alfred "Bosie" Douglas, the Marquess's son. When it became public, it cost Wilde everything.

Merlin Holland, Wilde's grandson and a noted researcher and archivist, has discovered the original transcript of the trial that led to his grandfather's tragedy. Here for the first time is the true, uncensored record, free of the distortions and censorship of previous accounts.

On 18 February 1895, Bosie's father delivered a note to the Albemarle Club addressed to "Oscar Wilde posing as a somdomite [sic]." With Bosie's encouragement, Wilde decided to sue the Marquess for libel. As soon as the trial opened, London's literary darling was at the center of the greatest scandal of his time.

Wilde's fall from grace was swift: having lost this case, he was in turn prosecuted and later imprisoned. Bankrupted, he fled to Paris never to see his family again. Within five years he was dead, his health never having recovered from the years in Reading gaol.

This remarkable book reveals Wilde on trial for his life, though he did not know it -- his confidence ebbing under the relentless cross-questioning, the wit for which he was so celebrated gradually deserting him under the remorseless scrutiny. The tragic climax falls when Wilde is betrayed by his own cleverness, unconsciously playing into the prosecutor's hands. With that his cause is lost.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In 1895, Oscar Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labor for "committing acts of gross indecency with other male persons." Wilde's story became a cautionary tale for homosexuals in Victorian England; in the century since, he has come to be celebrated as a martyr of the gay struggle for recognition. This volume, with an introduction and commentary by Wilde's grandson, Holland, publishes for the first time the unabridged transcript of the first of the three infamous trials that resulted in Wilde's destruction. The irony, as Holland's introduction makes abundantly clear, is that Wilde courted his imprisonment, suing his inamorata's father, the Marquess Queensberry, John Douglass, for libel when Queensberry left a card for him at the Albemarle Club that read, "For Oscar Wilde, posing sodomite." Wilde might have been best served by tearing up the card and forgetting it; instead, he pressed charges. But Wilde's riskiest step was treating the witness stand as a theatrical stage. When a prosecutor asked him if he had kissed a certain young man, Wilde joked, "Oh no, never in my life. He was a peculiarly plain boy." With that one flippant comment, Holland's text suggests, the die was cast. But the transcript and Holland's judicious notes also reveal how ill-served Wilde was by his counsel. Some of the same letters that were later used to convict Wilde were introduced by his own lawyers in this first trial as evidence. The general reader might find a work that condenses all three trial transcripts into one narrative, such as Moises Kaufman's stage adaptation, Gross Indecency: The Three Trials of Oscar Wilde, more accessible, but this volume is invaluable for the Wilde enthusiast, the legal scholar, the champion of human rights and the student of English literature.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

“The author has a wry lucid style that moves along briskly...an excellent little book.” (Sunday Boston Globe on The Wilde Album )

“An essential for aficionados...at times it is easy to forget that this is not one of Wilde’s own playscripts.” (The Observer )

“Invaluable for the Wilde enthusiast, the legal scholar, the champion of human rights, and the student of English literature.” (Publishers Weekly )

“Brilliant.” (Seattle Weekly )

“This narrative remind[s] us what an extraordinary man his grandfather was—and how much he influenced the 20th century.” (New York Times Book Review on The Wilde Album )

“Touching … sharp, unsentimental … an expectedly vivid portrait.” (London Times on The Wilde Album )

“Marvellous … a feast.” (The Independent on The Wilde Album )

“Inordinately gripping.” (New York Times )

“Tantalizing.” (Los Angeles Times )

“A fascinating document for anyone interested in the law or literature…as compelling as a Shakespearean tragedy.” (Legal Times )

“A gripping and fascinating volume [that]...ranks with the Apology, Plato’s account of the trial of Socrates.” (Daily Telegraph (London) )

“Sharp, unillusioned and free from family piety.” (Daily Telegraph (London) on The Wilde Album )

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 384 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1 edition (November 4, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0007156642
• ISBN-13: 978-0007156641
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,422,304 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Genuine Tragedy, December 9, 2003

By 

R. Hardy "Rob Hardy" (Columbus, Mississippi USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde: The First Uncensored Transcript of The Trial of Oscar Wilde vs. John Douglas (Marquess of Queensberry), 1895 (Hardcover)

It wasn't a capital trial, but the 1895 libel proceedings of Oscar Wilde against the Marquess of Queensberry were in their way tragic and terrible. Entering the trial, Wilde was a celebrity and a playwright with the magnificently silly _The Importance of Being Ernest_ in successful performance in London and New York. Afterwards, he was pursued, tried, convicted, and imprisoned at hard labor for the then crime of homosexuality. It is a story that has been told many times and turned into dramas. Those of us who love Wilde's writing and outrageous wit will always wonder what would have happened if he had been able to write and live as he wished, instead of being ruined and sent to an early death. Amazingly, the trial record has until now been unavailable. There were summaries, and publication of extracts, but only with _The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde: The First Uncensored Transcript of the Trial of Oscar Wilde vs. John Douglas (Marquess of Queensberry)_, 1895 (Fourth Estate) do we have a full record. In 2000, an anonymous source donated a transcript of the trial to the British Library. It was authenticated, and has now been edited by Merlin Holland, Wilde's grandson. Anyone interested in Wilde's life and writing will be fascinated by this verbatim record which puts judge, prosecutor, defender, and of course Wilde himself on the stage of the Old Bailey to play out their roles verbatim.

Holland has a useful introduction to recall the details of how Wilde was snared into legal doom, spurred by his young man Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie") to bother Bosie's abominable father Queensberry. When, after several skirmishes, Queensberry left his calling card at Wilde's club, with the words "To Oscar Wilde posing as somdomite" (spelling was one of the Marquess's shortcomings), Wilde should have thrown it into the fire. Instead, egged on by Bosie, he took Queensberry to court for libel. It was the mistake of his life.; as Holland writes, "If I could ask my grandfather a single question, it would have to be, 'Why on earth did you do it?'" Wilde did not take advice that he leave the country, and so sealed his own doom. Most of the pages of this book are the words from the trial, and most of those words come from the bouts with Wilde in the witness box. Initially he seemed to enjoy his role in the events, and gave as good as he got. For much of the repartee reported here, the transcriber notes: "(_laughter_.)" and "(_more laughter_.)" But an eventual flippant answer overthrew Wilde on the stand, although his case could not have been won. When Carson asked about a companion, "Did you ever kiss him?" Wilde replied, "Oh, no, never in my life; he was a peculiarly plain boy." It was not long after that Wilde and his lawyers withdrew the charges, and Queensberry was declared not guilty.

If Queensbury was not guilty of libel, it was reasonable to think that his accusations were truthful, and with the evidence already gathered, Queensberry assisted in a speedy arrest of Wilde, who once again had refused advice that he leave the country. The subsequent trials, one with a hung jury and one finding him guilty of gross indecency, are not covered in this volume. Wilde had two years of hard labor, and three sad years of exile before his death in Paris in 1900. He produced the mordant "Ballad of Reading Gaol" but little else during these years, and while there are plenty of examples that his wit remained in conversation, we were robbed of subsequent examples of the delicious laughter that had come from each of his successively improving plays. This is a useful book as full documentation of the first trial, and Holland has given helpful notes throughout. Those who admire Wilde, however, will find it more than useful. Wilde was brilliant at Greek and admired Greek drama and life, and it is no exaggeration that the transcript of the trial, reading as it does like a piece of period theater, has all the marks of a classic tragedy.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An amazing reading experience, April 13, 2004

By 

Kevin Killian (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde: The First Uncensored Transcript of The Trial of Oscar Wilde vs. John Douglas (Marquess of Queensberry), 1895 (Hardcover)

What's amazing is that, we have heard for many years about the unparalleled wit and charm of Wilde in conversation, yet until now we of course have been denied this experience. Reading these verbatim transcripts, hundreds of pages long and recently unearthed, we are given the opportunity to do this almost virtually, for the Wildean voice comes through loud and clear, with perfect crispness and distinction. This libel trial, the first of three of the Oscar Wilde trials, is almost a conversation between two persons, and the defence counsel, Carson, though incredibly scornful and insolent, is almost as intelligent and quite as good at debate as Wilde, so it's a splendid match of brains. The outcome is disheartening, though, and throughout you can't help pounding the desk and murmuring out loud, oh, Oscar, how could you have been so stupid! Or -- don't go there! So he becomes real in a way he hasn't previously, not even in the best biographies available. Queensberry and Alfred Douglas come off, in hindsight, as monsters of privilege in only quasi-human form. And poor Edward Shelley, it is plain, deserves a book of his own.

1.0 out of 5 stars PRIDE OF A HOPEFUL COMMUNITY OVERWHELMINGLY TARNISHED BY HISTORIC "SNAPFOO", February 1, 2012

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CHRISTOPHER ALLEN HORTON "francopeter2" (MEMPHIS, TN) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde (Paperback)

I HAVE NEVER READ OSCAR WILDE'S POETRY. THIS BOOK - PRESENTED IN TRIAL-TRANSCRIPT FORM - DEALS WITH THE LIBEL CASE OF JOHN DOUGLAS (KNOWN AS QUEENSBERRY). SINCE QUEENSBERRY HAD NO FIRST-HAND KNOWLEDGE OF MR. WILDE'S PERSONAL ACTIVITIES, HE PUBLICALLY ACCUSED HIM OF "POSING AS A SODOMITE." THROUGHOUT THE TRIAL - ON DIRECT/CROSS EXAMINATIONS - MR. WILDE VEHEMENTLY DENIED ANY ENGAGEMENT IN HOMOSEXUAL ACTIVITY. AFTER FINDING OUT THE DEFENSE TEAM PLANNED TO CALL SEVERAL OF HIS "PARTNERS" AS WITNESSES, MR. WILDE ALLOWED QUEENSBERRY TO OBTAIN A "NOT-GUILTY" VERDICT. [What an embarassing whimp!]. THE "NOT-GUILTY" VERDICT LED TO PROSECUTION OF MR. WILDE. HIS SECOND TRIAL ENDED WITH A HUNG JURY. AFTER THE THIRD TRIAL MR. WILDE WAS CONVICTED AND SENTENCED TO TWO YEARS OF HARD LABOR (25 MAY 1895). AFTER HIS RELEASE (19 MAY 1897), HE DIED IN PARIS (30 NOVEMBER 1900). [I am extremely disappointed with the outcome of this book. I was prepared to give Mr. Wilde major "kudos." As it turned-out, Mr. Wilde is a major l-i-a-r!]. THIS BOOK WAS COMPILED BY MERLIN HOLLAND - MR. WILDE'S GRANDSON. AFTER MR. WILDE'S CONVICTION IN 1895, CYRIL (HIS SON; HOLLAND'S FATHER) SPENT SOME TIME IN IRELAND AND EVENTUALLY, MOVED TO SWITZERLAND. CYRIL NEVER SAW HIS FATHER AGAIN. [I feel sorry for Mr. Holland's childhood; if he knew, he probably got tired of hearing about "nasty ol' granddaddy"]. THIS BOOK IS BASED ON A LONGHAND MANUSCRIPT (AUTHENTICATED) OF THE COMPLETE QUEENSBERRY TRIAL HOLLAND SAW ON DISPLAY AT THE BRITISH LIBRARY IN 2000. THE "CHAIN OF EVENTS" LEADING TO THE LIBEL CASE BEGAN AFTER MR. WILDE WAS "HANDED" A CARD BY A DESK CLERK AT A MEN'S CLUB. THIS CARD [QUEENSBERRY'S CARD] AND A FEW COURT RECEIPTS ARE THE ONLY ITEMS WHICH HAVE BEEN PRESERVED IN OFFICIAL COURT RECORDS. [WHILE READING THIS BOOK I STRONGLY SUGGEST KEEPING A PEN AND NOTEPAD HANDY; NAMES, DATES AND EVENTS CONSTANTLY GO "BACK-AND-FORTH." TAKING NOTES WILL HELP TO KEEP EVENTS CLEAR]. "Liar...liar...pants on fire!" IS A PERFECT SUMMARY.