159. A Flow Chart of the Reprint of The Picture of Dorian Gray

Last week's blog, The Puzzling Reprint of The Picture of Dorian Gray, and its perhaps confusing chronology, asks for a sort of flow chart of events. Below one finds the information on the publication of The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1891 and the reprint of 1895, along with some biographical dates from Wilde's life, and the sources for assumptions or facts. Assumptions that could not be corroborated are given in red.

Date	Oscar Wilde	Published evidence
April 1891	The Picture of Dorian Gray Published April 1891 (Ward, Lock & Co) Deluxe edition: July 1891	Mason, Art & Morality (1912), p. 282 Mason, Bibliography (1914), p. 343 Mentioned as published in The Publishers’ Circular, 18 April 1891
July 1891	The Picture of Dorian Gray Deluxe edition published: July 1891	Mason, Art & Morality (1912), p. 282 Mason, Bibliography (1914), p. 345 [British Library copy dated 4 July 1891]
October 1894	New PDG edition published	Mentioned in a letter to Walter Ledger (1904)
End of 1894	New edition PDG in preparation	Mason, Art & Morality (1912), p. 282 The PC did not mention a reprint of PDG in the notes on 'Books reduced in price', or 'New editions'; there was no announcement of it by Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co.
March 1895	New edition is ready	Mason, Art & Morality (1912), p. 283 Mason, Bibliography, p. 347.
5 April 1895	Wilde is arrested
27 April 1895	Edward Baker, Birmingham, advertises his wish to buy copies of Wilde’s books, incl. PDG	Publishers’ Circular, 27 April 1895, advertisement by Edward Baker (‘Books wanted to purchase’): ‘Oscar Wilde's Dorian Gray. Any edit[ion] ------ ------- The Happy Prince ------ ------- The Sphinx ------ ------- Any books by’.
25 May 1895	Wilde is sentenced to prison
14 September 1895	Edward Baker wants to buy 'Wilde's Chameleon'.	The Publishers' Circular, 14 September 1895: Edward Baker published a list of books he wanted to buy, including 'Wilde's Chameleon'.
12 October 1895	New edition of PDG published	The Publishers' Circular, 12 October 1895: announcement as published: ‘The Picture of Dorian Gray. Cr.8vo. p.334, 6s.net. Ward & L.' English Catalogue (1896): October 1895 Mason, Art & Morality (1912), p. 282.
12 and 19 October 1895	Copies of PDG offered for sale by Edward Baker	The Publishers' Circular, 12 October 1895: advertisement by Edward Baker, offering for sale: 'Oscar Wilde's "Dorian Gray." […] The book which was much talked about in the trial Wilde v. Queensberry. Suppressed by the publishers. Few remaining copies, 6s. each; 10 copies, 5s. each; 25 copies, 4s.6d. each.' Also published: 19 October 1895
26 October – 28 December 1895	Copies offered for sale by Edward Baker (incl. large paper copies of first ed.) Adv. Republished: 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 November, 7, 14, 21 and 28 December 1895.	The Publishers’ Circular, 26 October 1895 Also published: 2, 9, 16, 23 and 30 November, 7, 14, 21 and 28 December 1895.
9 November 1895	Edward Baker wants to buy copies of 'Wilde's (Oscar) Poems. 1892'.	The Publishers’ Circular, 9 November 1895 ('Books wanted to purchase')
September 1896	New edition of PDG remaindered, after Bowden retired from Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co.	Mason, Bibliography, p. 347 Mason, Art & Morality (1912), p. 283