The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde: Uncensored Unabridged Edition Hardcov

<p><strong><em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em></strong> is a Gothic and philosophical novel by Oscar Wilde, first published complete in the July 1890 issue of <em>Lippincott's Monthly Magazine</em>. Fearing the story was indecent, prior to publication the magazine's editor deleted roughly five hundred words without Wilde's knowledge. Despite that censorship, <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em> offended the moral sensibilities of British book reviewers, some of whom said that Oscar Wilde merited prosecution for violating the laws guarding public morality.</p><p>The longer and revised version of <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em> published in book form in 1891 featured an aphoristic preface-a defense of the artist's rights and of art for art's sake-based in part on his press defenses of the novel the previous year. The content, style, and presentation of the preface made it famous in its own right, as a literary and artistic manifesto. In April 1891, the publishing firm of Ward, Lock and Company, who had distributed the shorter, more inflammatory, magazine version in England the previous year, published the revised version of <em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em>.</p><p><em>The Picture of Dorian Gray</em> is the only novel written by Wilde. It exists in several versions: the 1890 magazine edition (in 13 chapters), with important material deleted before publication by the magazine's editor, J. M. Stoddart; the "uncensored" version submitted to <em>Lippincott's Monthly Magazine</