Oscar Fingall O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He was educated at Trinity College, Dublin and Magdalen College, Oxford where, a disciple of Pater, he founded an aesthetic cult. In 1884 he married Constance Lloyd, and his two sons were born in 1885 and 1886.

His novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray (1891), and social comedies Lady Windermere's Fan (1892), A Woman of No Importance (1893), An Ideal Husband (1895), and The Importance of Being Earnest (1895), established his reputation. In 1895, following his libel action against the Marquess of Queesberry, Wilde was sentenced to two years' imprisonment for homosexual conduct, as a result of which he wrote The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898), and his confessional letter De Profundis (1905). On his release from prison in 1897 he lived in obscurity in Europe, and died in Paris in 1900.

Introduction (by V. Holland) Part One. Stories Chapter 1. "The Picture of Dorian Gray Chapter 2. "Lord Arthur Savile's Crime Chapter 3. "The Canterville Ghost Chapter 4. "The Sphinx Without a Secret Chapter 5. "The Model Millionaire Chapter 6. "A House of Pomegranates Chapter 7. "The Young King Chapter 8. "The Birthday of the Infant Chapter 9. "The Fisherman and His Soul Chapter 10. "The Star-Child Chapter 11. "The Happy Prince Chapter 12. "The Nightingale and the Rose Chapter 13. "The Selfish Giant Chapter 14. "The Devoted Friend Chapter 15. "The Remarkable Rocket Part Two. Plays Chapter 18. "The Importance of Being Earnest Chapter 19. "Lady Windermere's Fan Chapter 20. "A Woman of No Importance Chapter 21. "An Ideal Husband Chapter 22. "Salome Chapter 23. "The Duchess of Padua Chapter 24. "Vera, or the Nihilists Chapter 25. "A Florentine Tragedy Chapter 26. "La Sainte Courtisane Part Three. Poems Helas Sonnet to Liberty Ave Imperatrix To Milton Louis Napolean Sonnet on the Massacre of the Christians in Bulgaria Quantum Mutata Libertatis Sacra Fames Theoretikos Santa Decca The Garden of Eros Requiescat Sonnet on Approaching Italy San Miniato By The Arno Ave Maria Gratia Plena Italia Sonnet Written in Holy Week at Genoa Rome Unvisited Urbs Sacra Aeterna Sonnet on Hearing the Dies Irae Sung in the Sistine Chapel Easter Day E Tenebris Wasted Days Madonna Mia The New Helen Impression de Voyage The Burden of Itys Impression du Matin Magdalen Walks Athanasia Serenade Endymion La Bella Donna della mia Mente Chanson Charmides Theocritus Impressions (Les Silhouettes, La Fuite de la Lune) In the Gold Room A Vision Ballade de Marguerite Amor Intellectualis The Dole of the King's Daughter The Grave of Shelley The Grave of Keats Fabien dei Franchi Phedre Portia Queen Henrietta Maria Camma Impression: Le Reveillon Panthea At Verona Apolgia Quia Multum Amavi Silentium Amoris Her Voice My Voice Taedium Vitae The Harlot's House From Spring Days to Winter Humanitad Flower of Love With a Copy of "A House of Pomegrantes" Under the Balcony Fantaisies Decoratives The New Remorse Canzonet Symphony in Yellow In the Forest To My Wife To L.L. Vita Nuova Pan The True Knowledge Lotus Leaves On the Sale by Auction of Keats' Love Letters Chorus of Cloud Maidens A Song of Lamentation A Fragment from the Agamemnon of Aescholys Impressions (Le Jardin, La Mer) The Artist's Dream or San Artystry Desespoir Ravenna The Sphinx Le Jardin des Tuileries The Ballad of Reading Gaol Tristitiae Part Four. Poems in Prose Chapter 27. "The Artist Chapter 28. "The Doer of Good Chapter 29. "The Disciple Chapter 30. "The Master Chapter 31. "The House of Judgment Chapter 32. "The Teacher of Wisdom Part Five. Essays and Letters Chapter 33. "De Profundis Chapter 34. "Two Letters to the Daily Chronicle Chapter 35. "Intentions Chapter 36. "The Decay of Lying Chapter 37. "Pen, Pencil and Poison Chapter 38. "The Critic as Artist Chapter 39. "The Truth of Masks Chapter 40. "The Soul of Man Under Socialism Chapter 41. "The Rise of Historical Criticism Chapter 42. "The Portrait of Mr. W.H. Chapter 43. "A Few Maxims for the Instruction of the Over-Educated Chapter 44. "Phrases and Philosophies for the Use of the Young