A House of Pomegranates by WILDE, Oscar - 1891

London: James R. Osgood McIlvaine & Co, 1891. Hardcover. Very Good. First edition. Designed and decorated by Charles Ricketts and Charles H. Shannon. Small quarto. With in-text pictorial illustrations and 4 plates designed by Shannon. Original olive-green quarter linen and decorated cream linen over boards, gilt spine, pictorial design stamped in gold and red on the front board, pictorial endpapers. Small contemporary ownership signature in ink on the front pastedown. Darkening and some fading to the boards and spine, wear to the joints, edges, and spine-ends, the endpapers are toned, a near very good copy, with the plates by Shannon somewhat faded, as usual. The gilt stamped front cover designs of the peacock, fountain, and basket of pomegranates are clearly discernible, as are red-ink decorations and lettering. A good copy of this famous book, despite the faults in the printing of Shannon's plates, all four impressions in this copy are clearly visible.