Text Comparison
A Note on the Texts:
"The two principal manuscripts that support the annotations to the Lippincott's text have been preserved. The first is the holograph, written by Wilde in ink on 264 folio sheets of blue lined paper, now in the manuscript collection of the Morgan Library in New York. (The Morgan holograph is actually a copy of a still earlier proto-manuscript, probably discarded by the author.) Wilde makes numerous corrections in the holograph and sent it to Miss Dickens's Type Writer Office, one of London's commercial agencies. The typescript was again revised by Wilde with many additions, deletions, and alterations in his hand. This typescript, consisting of 231 leaves of text, now in the collection of the William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, Los Angeles, was used as the printer's copy text by Lippincott's. John Marshall Stoddart then made his own series of emendations and deltions, which have become the subject of debate among textual scholars, raising the obvious question of whether an editor should permit Stoddart's changes to stand. Indeed, it has been argued that the only version of the text with unadulterated authorial sanction in the typescript version sent to Stoddart. Still, many argue that only the holograph expresses the original intention of the author" (Lawler xi).
Image of July 1890 edition of Lippincott's Monthly Magazine
J.M. Stoddart's alterations include word additions or deletions that attempt to make statements grammatically correct or, in some instances, less homosexual/immoral. Though some alterations are more effective than others, it is crucial to note all alterations when analyzing the textual differences in each edition.
Image of 1931 edition of The Picture of Dorian Gray
Because Wilde and Lippincott's Monthly received lots of backlash for obscenity, graphic homosexual content, and immoral themes found in The Picture of Dorian Gray (1890), later publications include drastic changes to ensure that the novel is "safe" and "moral" for public audiences.
Screenshot of a section in Chapter III of The Picture of Dorian Gray, where the original manuscript (displayed on the left) juxtaposes Lippincott's Monthly (displayed on the right). Compared using draftable.com.
In the original manuscript, Lord Henry had asked Dorian Gray if Sybil Vane, the woman whom Dorian was in love with, was merely a mistress, to which Dorian replied, "How dare you suggest such a thing, Harry? It is horrible. Sybil Vane is sacred!" In the Lippincott's edition, Lord Henry merely asked what Dorian's relations were with Sybil Vane, to which Dorian replied, "Harry, Sibyl Vane is sacred!"
By cutting out Lord Henry's implication, Lippincott's hoped to moralize the text. This example is just one of many text alterations to the original text.
Explore an annotated edition of Lippincott's Monthly, including every alteration to Wilde's original manuscript and alterations made to Lippincott's for further publication:
OSCAR WILDE by Tolouse-Lautrec
"It was a cruel portrait, not so much of Wilde as of his moral disintegration."
A satirical portrait of Wilde from Punch Magazine.