This gentleman wants to buy a copy of Des Grieux at auction and republish it.
Oscar Wilde is believed to be the anonymous author of two pornographic novels. The first, Teleny, is relatively well known. The sequel, Des Grieux is more obscure, and only two copies are known to exist. Both are in private collections, and unavailable to the public. The kickstarter’s author, Justin O’Hearn, proposes to buy a copy, publish an annotated copy, and donate the book to the British Library. Apprently, he has done this sort of thing before with another lost obscene novel, described by a contemporary collector as
“There is a boldness in the idea upon which are based the two letters comprised in this volume, which, in spite of its monstrosity, might, with an abler and more delicate treatment, have lent itself to the creation of an attractive narrative. Conceptions equally impossible and contrary to the laws of nature have been productive of readable stories. Laura and Eveline are hermaphrodites, capable of enjoyment both active and passive, and they recount the incidents of their weddings, which take place simultaneously. […] After these details, as disgusting as they are absurd, follows the description of an orgie, still more filthy and impossible, enacted by numerous ladies and gentlemen, at a London club, in honour of the said nuptials. The work, which is from the pen of its publisher, is mainly remarkable for its gross obscenity both in idea and language, and possesses no literary merit whatever.”
But this might be by Wilde, and perhaps deserving of more attention.
