Lord Arthur Savile's Crime
The Portrait of Mr. W.H., and Other Stories
by Oscar Wilde 1854–1900
The book, and the century it came out of.
A society palmist reads Lord Arthur’s hand and finds murder in it; being a conscientious man, Lord Arthur decides he must get the crime over with before the wedding. Four stories from the year Wilde was perfecting the manner that would make and destroy him — the Canterville ghost defeated by American common sense, and a Shakespeare theory that ruins everyone who believes it. Illustrated with 52 full-page plates — paintings by Stevens, Hau and De Nittis among them.
It was Lady Windermere’s last reception before Easter, and Bentinck House was even more crowded than usual.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, by Oscar Wilde, complete and unabridged. Spelling and punctuation follow present-day American usage; the sentences, the paragraphs and the voice are the author’s, word for word.
It was written in another era and may carry attitudes a reader today will find dated. They are kept for the sake of the work and do not reflect the views of this house.
- Series
- Mystery & Crime
- Format
- Ebook
- Extent
- about 120 pages
- Reading time
- about 2 hours
- Illustrations
- Full-page plates, credited
- Text
- Complete, unabridged
- Language
- en
- This edition
- 2026
- ISBN
- 9785486281013
52 paintings are bound into this edition
Six of them are shown here, taken from the volume itself. Each is reproduced full page and named with its painter and year.
This book in culture: one version
Most people meet a book like this one on a screen first. Here is what was made of it — and none of these is the book.
- 1955 Arthurs forbrytelse Sverre Bergli
A page from this edition
Not a mock-up: this page is taken from the finished volume. The ornament above the chapter belongs to its shelf and to no other, the opening letter is set as a drop capital, and the plate below carries the name of the painter and the year.
Both photographed from the finished volume.
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime, first published 1887, issued in this edition by Aeneas Press in 2026 on the Mystery & Crime shelf. Newly set, with the ornament of its series above each chapter and a drop capital on the opening page. Illustrated with full-page plates, each named with its painter.
Published as an ebook and not issued in print by this house; it carries one ISBN, 9785486281013, and is supplied worldwide. This edition — its setting, its ornament, its cover art, and the selection and attribution of its plates — © 2026 Aeneas Press.
Questions readers ask
- Is this the whole of Lord Arthur Savile's Crime?
- Yes — complete and unabridged. Nothing is cut, condensed or paraphrased. This is the book, not a summary of it.
- What exactly did you change?
- The spelling and the punctuation follow present-day American usage. Oscar Wilde's sentences are untouched — same words, same order, same rhythm.
- Are the pictures really in the book?
- Yes. The edition carries full-page plates bound into the text, each one named with its painter and the year it was made. Six of them are shown on this page.
- How long is it?
- About 120 pages, which is roughly about 2 hours of reading.
- What do I actually get?
- An illustrated ebook with its own ISBN, sold worldwide. One file, yours to keep, readable on any device.
