The cartoon depicts Oscar Wilde at the end of his visit to America in 1882 in two contrasting poses.
First, recognizing the commercial success of his lecture tour, Oscar is shown surrounded by lilies and sunflowers, and showered with gold. Then we see him somewhat shabbier, and with his bags packed at Castle Garden, the receiving station at New York harbor. Note the play Vera under his arm which Wilde brought with him and for which he struggled to find interest. The play was eventually staged in New York in August 1883 but was a withdrawn after a week.
The poet John Keats was a favorite of Wilde's, and the caption is a reference to Keats' epic poem Endymion that begins "A thing of beauty is a joy for ever".
Related:
Judge was a weekly magazine published in the United States from 1881 to 1947. It was launched by artists who had seceded from its rival Puck. The founders included cartoonist James Albert Wales, dime novels publisher Frank Tousey and author George H. Jessop.
The first printing was on October 29, 1881 and while it did well initially, it soon had trouble competing with Puck. But by the 1900s, the magazine had become successful, reaching a circulation of 100,000 by 1912. Harold Ross, editor of Judge between April 5 and August 2, 1924 used his experience on the magazine to start his own in 1925, The New Yorker. The success of The New Yorker, as well as the depression, put pressure on the magazine: it became a monthly in 1932 and ceased circulation in 1947.
Related Blog Article:
Oscar Wilde In America | © John Cooper, 2024
