"Behind every exquisite thing that existed, there was something tragic." The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde, a beloved Gothic masterpiece of supernatural terror and a #booktok sensation, is now available in an exquisite hardcover edition, featuring a foiled cover and distinctive interior design elements, making it an ideal gift for literature lovers, fans of gothic horror and allegorical literature, and book collectors. Each collectible volume will be the perfect addition to any well-appointed or dark academia library, or an attention-grabbing add for your holiday reading list or Christmas wish list.
Harper Muse Classics: The Gothic Chronicles Collection presents The Picture of Dorian Gray:
Whether you're buying this as a gift or as a self-purchase, this remarkable edition features:
When renowned artist Basil Hallward meets the wealthy Dorian Gray, he is immediately drawn to Dorian's countenance. Hallward becomes fitfully obsessed with capturing Dorian's remarkable beauty, confessing as much to his friend Lord Henry Wotton. Wotton counters, arguing that Hallward's portrait is an unparalleled masterpiece. After his final sitting, in an impulsive fit of despair over losing his vitality to the ravages of time, Dorian pledges his soul, pleading that his portrait age and fade in exchange for Dorian's eternal youth. What follows is an unsettling descent into decadence, sensualism, murderous secrecy, and tragedy as the portrait supernaturally begins to reflect Dorian's spiritual and moral deterioration while his outward physical appearance remains unchanged.
The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde is part of a four-volume collection that includes Bram Stoker's Dracula, Dante's Inferno, and a volume of Edgar Allan Poe's best-known short stories.
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900) was an Irish poet and playwright known for his biting satire and sharp-edged wit. His comic plays including A Woman of No Importance, Lady Windermere's Fan, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest brought him widespread fame. The Picture of Dorian Gray, criticized as overly provocative and immoral in Victorian England at the time, was Wilde's only novel. Wilde died in poverty and obscurity in Paris after having endured a cruel two-year prison sentence for violating Britain's Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885. He was pardoned in 2017.