Newly discovered interviews with Oscar Wilde

Wilde reclines on a couch, his usual position when interviewed in American hotels. Image: oscarwildeinamerica.org

I stopped updating this article in November 2019. It has now been superseded by my 2022 book, Oscar Wilde: The Complete Interviews.

On the morning of the 2nd of January 1882, the SS Arizona steamed into New York Harbor and anchored at quarantine. A contingent of reporters from the Sun, the Herald, the Times, and the World, eager for their first sight of the cruise liner’s most famous passenger, chartered a small boat and rowed out over the choppy, grey waters. Drenched, they clambered up onto the deck. There they found a young Oscar Wilde, aesthetically clad in a sealskin cap and a green, fur-lined ulster. The reporters peppered the poet with questions. Their first – what were his impressions of America? – elicited laughter. Wilde had yet to form an opinion on the subject, but pronounced the Atlantic ‘a disappointment’.

Over the next year, as Wilde zipped from New York to San Francisco and Montreal to New Orleans, the reporters kept up their pursuit. The candid interview was still a new form and its practitioners soon learnt that Wilde was a reliable source of copy. Prior to that morning in New York Harbor, Wilde had never been interviewed; within a few months over a hundred interviews had hit the American press.

Many interviews were reprinted in Hofer and Scharnhorst’s Oscar Wilde in America: The Interviews (2010).

In 2010, Matthew Hofer and Gary Scharnhorst published an edited collection of these interviews, entitled Oscar Wilde in America: The Interviews. They reprinted 48 of the more interesting examples and listed all 107 known interviews with Wilde, the vast majority of which had been printed in 1882–1883.

In the course of researching my graphic novel about Oscar Wilde’s American adventure, I have so far identified a further 22 interviews printed during 1882-1883 and one interview printed later.

Many of Wilde’s interviews are repetitive. He was often asked the same questions from city to city and his responses were consistent, if more polished as he gained experience in the art of the interview. But there are many compelling moments in these new interviews. We find Wilde accosted while riding a New York tram-car, where he declares to a representative of the New York Dramatic News that Gilbert and Sullivan’s satire of aestheticism, Patience, is ‘twaddle’; we see him tour Washington D.C. in the company of a man from the National Republican, who is there to witness Wilde being refused admittance to the Capitol; and multiple reporters find their way backstage at New York’s Union Square Theatre after Wilde’s first play, Vera; or, The Nihilists, is savaged by the critics (‘I know a great deal more about my play than the critics do’).

As these interviews may be of interest to Wildean scholars and enthusiasts, I provide a list below, with links to open access articles if they are available. It is likely that more interviews remain undiscovered and that the continuing digitisation of newspaper archives will lead to new discoveries. I will update this list if and when new interviews emerge.

  • St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Ca. 4 January 1882. This interview is assumed to be the source for ‘Of Gangling Gait’, Atlanta Constitution, 5 January 1882, 1 (H&S 9, View article), and the Las Animas Leader, 13 January 1882.
  • ‘Aesthetic Oscar’, Las Animas Leader, 13 January 1882, 1. View article This is a near exact reprint of ‘Of Gangling Gait’, Atlanta Constitution, 5 January 1882, 1 (H&S 9), the only difference being that here the original source of the interview is stated: the [St. Louis] Globe Democrat.
  • ‘Honors to an Aesthete’, Philadelphia Times, 17 January 1882, 1. View article
  • ‘Wilde Oscar, The Lover of the Big Sunflower’, Washington National Republican, 20 January 1882, 1. View article. This is an abbreviated reprint of ‘What Oscar Has to Say’, Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser, 20 January 1882, 4 (H&S 17).
  • ‘Oscar Wilde Interviewed’, The Stage, 20 January 1882, 12. View article at the British Newspaper Archive (sign up for a free trial to access the article)
  • ‘Oscar Wilde Arrives’, Washington Post, 20 January 1882, 4. Obtained from ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • ‘Mr. Oscar Wilde’, Washington Evening Star, 21 January 1882, 1. View article
  • ‘Oscar and Our Man Take a Tour Around the City’, Washington National Republican, 21 January 1882, 1. View article
  • ‘Oscar and Archibald’, Washington Post, 21 January 1882, 1. Obtained from ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • Louisville Courier Journal, 22 January 1882. Noted by John Cooper.
  • ‘Our Aesthetic Visitor’, Washington Post, 22 January 1882, 1. Obtained from ProQuest Historical Newspapers.
  • ‘Oscar Wilde in Baltimore’, Baltimore Sun, 25 January 1882, 4. View article
  • ‘Oscar Wilde’, Rocky Mountain Sun, 28 January 1882, 4. View article. This is a near exact reprint of ‘Oscar Wilde in New York’, New York Sun, 3 January 1882, 1 (H&S 3).
  • ‘Oscar Wilde: The Apostle of Aestheticism in Buffalo’, Buffalo Courier, 9 February 1882, 2. View article | Noted by John Cooper
  • ‘Utter Oscar: An Apostle of Aestheticism’, Buffalo Morning Express, 9 February 1882. View article
  • ‘A Wilde Riot in Rochester’, Utica Weekly Herald, 14 February 1882. View article | Noted by John Cooper. A partial reprint of ‘A Man of Culture Rare’, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, 8 February 1882, 4 (H&S 30).
  • Louisville Commercial, Ca. 22 February 1882. This interview is assumed to be the source for ‘English Renaissance and its Apostle’, Salt Lake Daily Herald, 1 March 1882, 6. View article
  • ‘Walt Whitman's Aesthetic Den’, Philadelphia Times, 23 February 1882. Noted by John Cooper. A partial reprint of ‘Oscar Wilde: The Great Aesthete in the City’, Cincinnati Enquirer, 21 February 1882, 4. (H&S 38, View article).
  • ‘English Renaissance and its Apostle’, Salt Lake Daily Herald, 1 March 1882, 6. View article
  • ‘Oscar Wilde: The Apostle of the Frieze Absorbs the Scenery up the Mississippi and Thinks it Fine’, Dubuque Herald, 2 March 1882, 1. View article | Noted by John Cooper
  • Decatur Weekly Republican, 9 March 1882, 1. Noted by John Cooper
  • Chicago Herald, Ca. 13 March 1882. This interview is assumed to be the source for ‘Oscar’s Opinion’, Sedalia Weekly Bazoo, 14 March 1882, 7.
  • ‘Oscar’s Opinion’, Sedalia Weekly Bazoo, 14 March 1882, 7. View article
  • ‘Oscar’s Expectations’, Omaha Daily Bee, 23 March 1882, 5. View article
  • ‘Wilde on Poetry’, Stockton Herald, 5 April 1882, 3. Noted by John Cooper
  • ‘The Poet in Lincoln’, Omaha Daily Herald, 26 April 1882, 2. View article
  • ‘Argus and the Ass: The Aesthetic Oscar Converting the Capitolines’, Omaha Daily Bee, 26 April 1882, 1. View article
  • ‘Oscar Wilde on New World Art’, Toronto Globe, 17 May 1882, 3. This interview is assumed to be the source for ‘Oscar Wilde: He is Enthusiastic About Montreal’, Montreal Daily Witness, 19 May 1882, 8.
  • ‘Oscar Wilde: He is Enthusiastic About Montreal’, Montreal Daily Witness, 19 May 1882, 8. View article | Noted by John Cooper
  • ‘Oscar Wilde’, Chicago Tribune, 20 May 1882, 2. View article | Noted by John Cooper
  • ‘Oscar Wilde’, Toronto Evening News, 25 May 1882, 4. View article. Note that two interviews with Wilde appear on p4 of this edition. This one appears in col 4 and was reprinted in vol 1 of the 1909 Lamb edition of The Works of Oscar Wilde (View book); H&S cite the interview in col 2 (View article).
  • Bangor Daily Commercial, Ca. 4 October 1882. This interview is assumed to be the source for ‘Oscar Admires the American Autumn’, Boston Globe, 13 October 1882, 5.
  • ‘Oscar Admires the American Autumn’, Boston Globe, 13 October 1882, 5. View article | Noted by John Cooper.
  • ‘Oscar Wilde: On Soldier’s Dresses, Painting in Pottery and His Reception in the Maritime Provinces’, Saint John Daily Sun, 14 October 1882, 4. View article
  • Philadelphia Times, Ca. 23 October 1882. This interview is presumed to the source for ‘The Jersey Lily’, St. Paul Globe, 30 October 1882, 3.
  • ‘The Sunflower Poet’, Camden Daily Courier, 27 October 1882, 1. View article | Noted by John Cooper
  • ‘The Jersey Lily’, St. Paul Globe, 30 October 1882, 3. View article
  • ‘Oscar in a Bunko Game’, Salt Lake Herald, 27 December 1882, 8. View article. A reprint of ‘Bunko: Oscar Wilde Reported to Have Lost $1,100’, Chicago Tribune, 25 December 1882, 2 (H&S 98).
  • ‘Mr Wilde Closes his Bank Account’, New York Sun, 27 December 1882, 1. View article
  • ‘An Interview with Oscar Wilde: His American Tour and Opinions on the Atlantic’, Liverpool Daily Post, 8 January 1883, 7. View article. This interview is the source for ‘Mr. Oscar Wilde and the Atlantic’, Eastern Daily Press, 9 January 1883, 2, and ‘Alas! Poor Ocean!’, New York Tribune, 25 January 1883, 4.
  • ‘Mr. Oscar Wilde and the Atlantic’, Eastern Daily Press, 9 January 1883, 2. View article. An abbreviated reprint of ‘An Interview with Oscar Wilde: His American Tour and Opinions on the Atlantic’, Liverpool Daily Post, 8 January 1883, 7.
  • ‘Alas! Poor Ocean!’, New York Tribune, 25 January 1883, 4. View article | Cited by Lewis and Smith, pp. 33, 445. An abbreviated reprint of ‘An Interview with Oscar Wilde: His American Tour and Opinions on the Atlantic’, Liverpool Daily Post, 8 January 1883, 7.
  • ‘Mr. Oscar Wilde’s Hair’, New York Herald, 12 August 1883, 10. View article
  • ‘Oscar Wilde’s Ambition’, New York Tribune, 12 August 1883, 12. View article
  • ‘The Failure of 'Vera'’, New York Tribune, 28 August 1883, 5. View article
  • ‘'Vera' Killed by Critics’, New York Sun, 28 August 1883, 3. View article
  • ‘Oscar Wilde Interviewed in Glasgow’, Evening News and Star, 22 December 1884, 4. View article

I have recorded a free audiobook of all known English language interviews for LibriVox.

Notes

1. As recently as 2018 Michèle Mendelssohn wrote in Making Oscar Wilde:

‘Over the course of twelve months in 1882–3, Wilde was interviewed at least ninety-eight times. How many times had he been interviewed before? Zero. How many interviews would he have during the rest of his life? Five.’ p80

‘At least 98 times’ is technically correct, although we now know that at least 120 interviews appeared in print (although this was over a period of more than 12 months). Hofer and Scharnhorst cite six, and not five, interviews after Wilde left North America for the second and final time. The new Glasgow interview takes this to seven.

The total number of interviews will, of course, depend on what one chooses to count. Wilde was sometimes interviewed simultaneously by multiple reporters (most famously on the deck of the Arizona), each of whom wrote different articles. These articles were then reprinted or re-written as new by other journalists who were not present. The number of interviews printed is therefore larger than the number of interviews given.

It is also important how one defines an interview. In many cases, it is clear that an interview is taking place: a reporter meets with Wilde in his hotel room and asks questions to which Wilde responds. Occasionally, interviews take other forms. Perhaps a reporter is present while Wilde tours a city and reports what he says. These may not be formal interviews, but it can be intuited that Wilde has allowed the reporter to accompany him for the purpose of writing an article (Washington National Republican, 21 January 1882, is an example). Or perhaps Wilde is approached by a reporter on a train or tram and, while not necessarily agreeing to a formal interview, decides to answer impromptu questions (The Stage, 20 January 1882, is an example). I have classed such articles as interviews.

However, some articles include reported speech, either direct or indirect, but are not interviews. The most obvious examples are verbatim reports of Wilde’s lectures: definitely not interviews. Less easy to categorise are the reports of Wilde’s numerous social engagements. Journalists sometimes report what Wilde said at these engagements, but it can be unclear whether Wilde is speaking to the journalist or if the journalist is simply reporting what Wilde was heard to say to others. I have chosen not to class these as interviews unless Wilde is reported to have spoken to the journalist directly.

Therefore, Chicago Tribune, 14 February 1882, 7, is not an interview: it includes an account of a lunch Wilde attended and at which he gave his opinions on a variety of subjects (e.g. ‘He was told that the Americans thought they danced better than the English, and he acknowledged this to be a fact’), but it is made clear that he is speaking to his host and to fellow guests, not specifically to the reporter (‘After lunch, Mr. MacVeigh drew Mr. Wilde out, and he talked very pleasantly on the subject of dress, dancing, etc.’).

New York World, 6 January 1882, 2 (View article), which appears in Hofer and Scharnhorst’s bibliography as interview 10, is also not an interview. It is a report of the Hayes reception. Wilde is quoted directly and indirectly (e.g ‘Mr. Wilde is enthusiastic in his admirations of others, and especially of Mr. Whistler, whom he declares to be the first painter in England, but he maliciously adds: “It will take England 300 years to find it out.”’), but the author writes that ‘Such bits of conversation were tossed hither and thither among the crowd which surged about the stranger’. That is, Wilde’s words were overheard by the reporter and not a response to his questions.

However, my interpretation is that the article in the Washington Post, 22 January 1882, is an interview, despite primarily being a report of Wilde’s social schedule, because it includes the sentence ‘From his personal comments made to a representative of The Post, it can be authoritatively asserted that the angelican aesthete was much impressed with Washington and its surroundings’. Although this is hardly an in depth (or interesting) interview, it qualifies because Wilde is described as talking directly to the reporter and is quoted, albeit indirectly.

2. In the process of obtaining the original sources of the interviews, I found some errors in Hofer and Scharnhorst’s bibliography. I here offer corrections and clarifications for the benefit of interested parties. H&S use a different numbering system for the articles they reprint and for their bibliography of all known interviews. Here I use the bibliography numbering.

  • H&S 1: ‘Oscar Wilde’s Arrival’, New York World, 3 January 1882, 4. View article. H&S state the article is on p1; it is on p4.
  • H&S 5: ‘Oscar Wilde: Arrival of the Apostle of Aestheticism in America’, New York Herald, 3 January 1882, 6. View article. H&S state the article was published on 4 January 1882; it was published on the 3rd.
  • H&S 10: ‘Oscar Wilde: The Aesthetic Apostle’s First Appearance in New York Society’, New York World, 6 January 1882, 2. View article. H&S state the article is on p5; it is on p2. This article is not an interview, but rather the account of a reception at which Wilde spoke to other guests but not to an interviewer.
  • H&S 12: ‘The Science of the Beautiful’, New York World, 10 January 1882, 7. View article. H&S state the article was published on 8 January 1882; I couldn't source that edition, but found the article [reprinted?] in the edition of the 10th.
  • ‘Art's Apostle’, Boston Herald, 15 January 1882, 8. View article. This article is not an interview with Wilde, but rather an account of his photography session with Napoleon Sarony.
  • H&S 21: ‘Art’s Apostle’, Washington Evening Star, 21 January 1882, 3. View article. This is not a unique interview, it is a reprint of H&S 13 (‘Art’s Apostle’, Boston Herald, 15 January 1882, 8. View article). H&S usually group reprinted articles under the same number.
  • H&S 22: ‘New York Gossip: Meeting of the Aesthetic Poet and Clara Morris’, Boston Herald, 22 January 1882, 4. View article. This article is not an interview, but rather the account of a reception at which Wilde spoke to other guests but not to an interviewer.
  • H&S 31: ‘Wilde Sees the Falls’, Buffalo Express, 10 February 1882, 4. View article. H&S state this article was published ‘ca. 9 February 1882’ and do not state the page number.
  • H&S 54: ‘Oscar Wilde in Omaha’, Omaha Daily Herald, 22 March 1882, 8. View article. Not an erratum as such, but H&S cite the reprint of this article in the Omaha Weekly Herald, 24 March 1882, rather than the original, which was printed two days earlier.
  • H&S 78: ‘An Aesthetic Discussion’, Kingston British Whig, 16 May 1882, 1. View article. This article is not an interview with Wilde, but rather the transcript of a local government meeting written in mock aesthetic language.
  • H&S 80: ‘Oscar Wilde’, Ottawa Daily Citizen, 17 May 1882, 1. View article. This article is not an interview with Wilde, but rather an account of his lecture in Ottawa on 16 May 1882.
  • H&S 84: ‘The Aesthete at the Art Exhibition’, Toronto Globe, 26 May 1882, 6. View article. This article is not an interview, but rather the account of an art exhibition at which Wilde spoke to others but not necessarily to an interviewer.
  • H&S 93: ‘Oscar Wilde Interviewed’, Saint John Daily Sun, 5 October 1882, 3. View article. H&S do not provide the article’s title.
  • H&S 98: ‘Bunko: Oscar Wilde Reported to Have Lost $1,100’, Chicago Tribune, 25 December 1882, 2. View article. H&S state the title includes the word 'reputed' instead of 'reported'.

3. These numbers refer to the interviews that were listed here when I first posted this blog on 30 Oct 2019. I had identified the interviews myself by searching newspaper archives and believed them to be new discoveries. I acknowledged that it was possible that some of the interviews were reprints of articles that are listed but not reprinted in Hofer and Scharnhorst’s book (I had not, and still have not, read every article in their bibliography). I also acknowledged that it was possible that some of the interviews had previously been identified by other researchers whose work I had not read.

Since posting this article, I have added more interviews to the list based on my continuing research and on the research of others, whose work I acknowledge. I have also noted when interviews I thought were new have proved to be reprints of known interviews.

4. About 20 interviews came to light in the first month after I first posted this article. I updated the list of interviews and made other minor changes. I stopped updating this article on 30/11/2019, deciding instead to compile a complete edition of Wilde’s interviews. Now available for purchase here.