Irish Peacock & Scarlet Marquess: The Real Trial of Oscar Wilde

For the first time Merlin Holland (Wilde's only grandson) presents the original transcript of the famous Wilde vs Queensberry trial. With extensive footnotes and a new introduction, this definitive account is a dramatic read to delight Wilde enthusiasts and the general reader. One of the most famous love affairs in literary history is that of Oscar Wilde and Lord Alfred 'Bosie' Douglas. When it became public, it cost Wilde everything. Merlin Holland has discovered the original courtroom transcript of the trial which led to his grandfather's tragedy. Here for the first time is the true record, without the distortions of previous accounts. On 18th February 1895 Bosie's father, the Marquess of Queensberry, delivered a note to the Albemarle Club addressed to 'Oscar Wilde posing as 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 centre of the greatest scandal of his time. Wilde's fall from grace was swift, his case lost, prosecution by the Crown soon followed, ending in the imprisonment that destroyed his health, even as his art, as Wilde put it, improved through 'suffering'. In this remarkable book we relive the moments as Wilde's confidence ebbed under the relentless questioning, see him lose track of the witty lines for which he was famous. Ultimately, it was his wit that betrayed him.