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Oscar Wilde: From Decadence to Despair

Caoimhe Ní Ghormáin

Manuscripts Curator, Research Collections

3 min read • 10 October 2024

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Known for his biting wit, flamboyant dress and glittering conversation, Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was one of the most famous Irish personalities of the nineteenth century and one of the great writers of the Victorian era. He is also one of Trinity College Dublin’s most celebrated alumni.

Visitors to the Old Library at Trinity College Dublin can now enjoy a carefully curated collection of rare Oscar Wilde archival material and memorabilia on display in the Long Room.

Access to the exhibition, entitled Oscar Wilde: From Decadence to Despair is included in a ticket to the Book of Kells Experience and it will be on display until 29 January 2025.

The Library acquired the Oscar Wilde collection in 2011 from Julia Rosenthal, a book dealer and lifelong collector of Wildeana based in London. It comprises over 150 items of symbolic significance to Wilde’s biography in manuscript and print format, as well as photographs and unique memorabilia. It is the only Oscar Wilde archive held in a public institution in Ireland, which is remarkable given he was born here. Due to the popularity and the value placed on material relating to him, much of it is in the hands of private collectors.

I first curated From Decadence to Despair in 2017 – which was the first major Irish exhibition on Oscar Wilde – and it proved remarkably popular with our visitors. Wilde remains a very intriguing and likeable character and we decided to run a version of the exhibition again to coincide with Wilde’s birthday on 16^th October. This exhibition celebrates Oscar Wilde as a Dubliner, as a hugely influential literary figure, as the iconic personality that he was, and of course as a Trinity graduate.

The Library’s Oscar Wilde collection is a very personal and visual archive, which lends itself so well to exhibition. I fell in love with it the first time I had the opportunity to appraise it in 2011 and I’ve been on many journeys with it since then. I’ve been very lucky to catalogue the collection, curate this exhibition and publicise it, as well as travel with it to some lovely locations internationally for loans, such as Paris and Oxford, so I feel a great sense of connection to it.

What’s on display at the Oscar Wilde exhibition in the Old Library?

The exhibition is highly engaging and visual, focussing on the themes of Wilde’s formative years, his time spent in the USA, Wilde’s glittering social circle and his final years in exile. There are personal photographs, memorabilia, letters, trade cards inspired by Oscar Wilde and original theatre programmes.

Seeing this rare archival material in person promises to be a memorable experience, further enhanced by the stunning backdrop of the Old Library.

Highlights in the exhibition at the Old Library include:

• The famous portrait photograph of Wilde by Napoleon Sarony taken during Wilde’s lecture tour in the States, 1882.
• A set of illustrated trade cards inspired by Wilde’s ‘aesthetic tour’ of America in 1882.
• The original theatre programme from the opening night of The Importance of Being Earnest in 1895, the very night on which Wilde was arrested for gross indecency.
• Items of memorabilia, such as Wilde’s silver calling card case, a gift from his dear friend the writer Ada Leverson, engraved ‘for Sebastian Melmoth from Sphinx

How to view Oscar Wilde archival material online

An online version of the Oscar Wilde exhibition, From Decadence to Despair, is available for viewing, on the Library of Trinity College Dublin website.

Additionally, Trinity’s digitised Oscar Wilde Collection can be viewed on the Virtual Trinity Library.