THE OSCHOLARS
__________
TRAFFICKING IN STRANGE WEBS
A Survey of Websites
May 2008
‘I don’t want it put straight, Leaf.   I only want the key.’ ‘Well, sir, you’ll be covered with cobwebs if you go into it.  Why, it hasn’t been opened for nearly five years – not since his lordship died.’
TABLE OF CONTENTS : OSCAR WILDE & HIS FAMILY
After each section, we add sites that we can no longer find. If this changes, they will be restored to their proper place in the lists.
Discussion groups
Sites created by Wilde’s admirers
Collections
Texts, editions & study guides on line
Exhibitions
French connections
Wilde, Dorothy (‘Dolly’)
Wilde, Jane Lady (‘Speranza’)
Miscellanæous
Discussion Groups
First reported June 2001
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Oscar_Wilde_1800s began in March 2000 and has 23 members, of whom two or three seem to supply most of the messages. Its latest message was posted on 16th May, apparently part of a correspondence concerned with erotic fantasies about the waxwork of Wilde at Madame Tussaud’s.
v Added June 2002: Membership has now risen to 42 and 44 new messages have been posted.
v Added June 2003:  Membership has now risen to 74, but the number of new messages in the last twelve months has fallen to 42.
v Added May 2008: Membership has now risen to 193, but the messages are now entirely concerned with extranæous affairs, and the Wildëans appear to have fled. Not recommended.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wilde-ones began in June 1999 and has 26 members, with some overlap with the above. Only three messages have been posted this year, the last on 20th February.
v Added June 2002:  Membership has now risen to 34 and 4 new messages have been posted.
v Added June 2003:  Membership has risen to 39 but only 8 new messages have been posted.
v Added May 2008: Membership is at 85, but nearly all the messages are from ‘Sexy Sophia’ and her like. Not recommended.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oscarwilde began in July 1998 and has 218 members. This a very personal, often amusing, often eccentric site, with a good record in posting reviews and articles from newspapers, and a considerable record of trivial and even crude messages that have little or nothing to do with Wilde.  It also contains valuable records of the Wilde commemoration events of last year.
v Added June 2002:  Membership has now risen to 238 and 456 new messages have been posted.  Though the number of messages has declined over that of the previous twelve months (1405), this remains the leading chat group on the web.  A notable feature is the posting of newspaper articles and reviews.
v Added June 2003:  This is still the most significant of the message groups, although membership has only risen by 1 in the last year, and new messages have dropped to 256.
v Added May 2008: Although the site has been cleaned up, membership has fallen to 207, and messages only continue in a desultory sort of way.
First reported July 2001
http://authorsdirectory.com/cgi-bin/search2000/iforum.cgi?forum=Oscar_Wilde&action=list is another Oscar Wilde discussion Forum, on which there are no messages.
v Added July 2002:  had no messages on it last year, and still has none.
v Added July 2003: There is one message on this site.
v Added May 2008: There are now no messages here.
First reported November 2001
http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/thegreencarnation is another message exchange, calling itself ‘An Oscar Wilde Club’. Founded in February 1999 by ‘Sebastian Melmott’ [sic], it has to date ninety-seven members, who have posted 375 messages. This is the second largest such group of those reviewed so far, and although there have been no messages since August, the second most active. The level is, however, largely ephemeral, often only giving the writer’s opinion of a favourite quotation, Stephen Fry, Brideshead Revisited or something of that sort. It does have a rather good colophon.
v Added November 2002:  Membership of this group has dropped to 81, the number of messages risen to 383.
v Added May 2008: Although membership has risen to 139, this is largely composed of the ubiquitous Sexy Sophia and company. Such few Wildëans as there were no longer are. Not recommended.
First reported December 2001
http://jollyroger.com/zz/ychildrend/OscarWildehall/shakespeare1.html will take you to the ‘Oscar Wilde Forum Frigate’, where you will be enjoined to ‘Post yer opinion, a link to some of yer work, or yer thoughts regarding the best books and criticisms concerning Oscar Wilde.  We’d also like to invite ye to sail on by the Oscar Wilde Live Chat, and feel free to use the message board below to schedule a chat session. And the brave of heart shall certainly wish to sign their souls aboard The Jolly Roger.’ This rather uneasy identification of Oscar Wilde with Long John Silver seems to be aimed at middle school level.  It is one of a whole series of Children’s Book discussion fora, and has been almost entirely devoted to correspondence about The Happy Prince.
v Added December 2002:  This is unchanged, and we would guess little visited.  Only two messages were posted in 2002.
v Added May 2008: No message would appear to have been added since October 2004.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vivian-work-of-wilde is another forum for desultory conversation. ‘Welcome to the “Talk to Steve Vivian” discussion board for the Wilde-ness: The Life and Work of Oscar Wilde guide. In this forum, you can direct course-related questions or comments to Steve Vivian or share ideas with your classmates. Steve will drop in from time to time to respond to student questions.’  Mr Vivian’s qualifications are not listed. Founded: Nov 10, 1999.   Members: 11.    Twenty-five messages (thirteen posted by Mr Vivian himself); fifteen of these were posted in November 1999, only six have appeared since.
v Added December 2002:  There are three new messages, all relating to ladies whose ideas of what constitutes rational dress for December seem eccentric.  Membership has fallen to three (one of whom was ourself).
v Added May 2008: membership has risen to fifteen, of which only three seem to be genuine. Not recommended.
X SITES DECEASED OR DERELICT WHEN RESEARCHED FOR THIS UPDATE
First reported June 2001
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/merici_teatro began in March 2001, listed as a Wilde site, has seven members and is in Spanish. Unfortunately we have been unable to gain access to this.
v Added August 2002: The site merici_teatro@yahoogroups.com, though listed under the Yahoo Oscar Wilde discussion lists, has no mention of anything to do with Wilde in any of the messages so far posted.
v Added August 2003:  This site no longer exists.
First reported October 2001
X  http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/oscarspanthers is a discussion group for ‘Oscar’s gay fans’, founded anonymously in November 2000. It has eight members (two of whom are not gay) and six messages.
v Added October 2002:  Our attempt to reconnect with this group brought the message ‘There is no group called oscarspanthers.’
v Added May 2008: Still dead.
First reported March 2002
http://www.l2g.com/read/11956 is yet another on-line discussion group, founded on 1st July 2001 (or possibly 7th January 2001) by Marc Goodman.  It has yet to attract any discussion.
v In March 2003 we added:  This now brings up the barely comprehensible message: Due to costs, the Links2Go search engine has been shutdown. However the underlying technology is still is available through LightSpeedSoftware UPDATE 1/10/2003: We are no longer redirecting cached links with/more/.....
v In March 2007 this message had been changed to ‘The document you requested was not found. May we suggest our home page?’ This turns out to be full of links to Niagara Falls: we were duly disappointed.
v Added May 2008: This site is now defunct.
First reported August 2003
wilde@aug.com is a Yahoo discussion group apparently founded in July 1998; it has no members at all.
v Added May 2008: This no longer exists.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/THE-BLACK-PEACOCK/ brings one to this:
THE BLACK PEACOCK is the “Official Journal Of The Neo-Decadence Movement.” Neo-Decadence is an attempt to resurrect in this mundane 21st Century the hedonistic, decadent and æsthetic creativeness of such 19th Century writers at J.K. Huysmans, Oscar Wilde, Arthur Machen, etc. Poems, period (Victorian) erotica and such gladly accepted. YOU MUST BE 18 OR OVER TO JOIN! Please send an email to the group founder, Lord Sebastian, at: vampyre_boi@yahoo.com to join, listing your interests and reasons you consider yourself a Neo-Decadent. THE BLACK PEACOCK will (hopefully) develop in future as a full-blown website and a print periodical.
Only founded in May 2003, it has as yet just three members and no messages.
v Added May 2008: This no longer exists.
OscarWilde@groups.msn.com is yet another discussion group.   It seems to have no members and no messages.
v Added May 2008: This no longer exists.
SITES CREATED BY WILDE’S ADMIRERS
First reported August 2001
http://users.belgacom.net/wilde is a site created by Eva Thienpont (whose licentiate-dissertation ‘Cherchez l’homme. Masculinities in the Plays of Oscar Wilde’ was recently completed and received high distinction) and Kristof Moonen. It contains the following sections - A Portrait of Oscar Wilde: a concise biography, highlighting some important aspects of Wilde’s life; The Picture of Oscar Wilde or how other people saw the man who had never given adoration to anyone but himself; Mutual Criticism: what Wilde said about others and what others said about Wilde; Baisers d’Oscar: a number of stories which are not to be found in the Complete Works, but were part of Wilde’s conversational repertoire; Quotes: a selection of Wildean witticisms; A Quiz, where you can test your knowledge about Wilde; The Very Essential Modern Woman’s Guide to Oscar Wilde: a personal exploration of Wilde’s philosophy and works, combined with literary criticism. An attractive and elegant site of general interest for beginners and beyond.
v Added August 2002:  The site of our Associate Editor, Eva Thienpont, and we naturally (and correctly) commend it highly.
v Added August 2003:  And continue to do so.
v Added May 2008: To our great regret this delightful site is no longer being maintained, we hope only for the time being.
First reported September 2001
§§§  http://www.besuche-Oscar-Wilde.de is the website of Oscar Wilde - Ode an ein Genie, devised by Claudia Letat in Victorian sepia. This is perhaps the most ambitious of the sites reviewed so far, with many items that can be downloaded to one’s own computer, a set of e-cards (including the notorious Alice Gusalewicz Salome), and a filmography. There is also a news column. This site is in German, an English version being undertaken.
v Added September 2002: This is constantly being renewed and developed, with new features and the English version (‘Standing Ovations’) is now fully active.
v Added September 2003:  This continues to grow, with new links, including one to a recording Merlin Holland made for the British Library: http://www.fathom.com/media/ramfiles/1773_500.ram.  Really an excellent site.
v Added May 2008: We are pleased to report that this site is in good health.
First reported October 2001
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Thebes/6952/frameset.htm takes one to a site titled ‘Welcome to Eccentricity at Its Best: Oscar Wilde!’ devised by a woman (pictured but name not given) describing herself as ‘a freshman at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College double majoring in International Studies and Communications’. The site does not contain much information, and also seems to contain the owner’s private diary.
v Added October 2002: We have no reason to change this opinion.
v Added October 2003:  Still a freshman at Randolph-Macon!  And still ‘I am a big fan of the witty Irish writer, Oscar Wilde’.  But nothing new.
v Added May 2008: No changes since we last looked, making the owner’s the longest freshman year in history.
First reported January 2002
http://www.cmgww.com/historic/wilde/index.html is self-described as the ‘The official Web site of Oscar Wilde’.  This meagre offering is distinguished only by a short essay by Merlin Holland.  There is a biography of Wilde, which runs to all of 1,074 words; a list of works published in Wilde’s lifetime, including a play apparently called ‘The Duchess of Padue’, which list, together with one of six scholastic honours, is described as ‘accomplishments’; nine photographs, with either the name of the photographer or of the owner as caption, which gives the rather odd effect of an otherwise unidentified picture of Constance having the label ‘Merlin Holland’ - clearly some future Ellmann is going to decide that this is Mr Holland dressed as Gwendolen Fairfax.
v In January 2003 we added: That this site is being maintained is shown by the fact that it is now marked © 1996-2002 Oscar Wilde c/o CMG Worldwide. Clicking on the links yields rather more information about CMG (‘CMG Worldwide is the exclusive business and licensing representative for many celebrities including: Marilyn Monroe, James Dean, Bill Elliott, Babe Ruth and many more’: one notices that 50% of those named came to untimely ends) than it does about Oscar Wilde.  The bibliography does not even list Merlin Holland’s edition of the letters; Ellmann is not mentioned; and the only ‘critical works’ listed are The Paradox of Oscar Wilde, George (here called Geroge) Woodcock. 1950; Oscar Wilde, St. John Ervine. 1951; Oscar Wilde: A Critical Study, Arthur Ransome. 1912.  Her Grace remains The Duchess of Padue.
v Added January 2007: Returning to this unpromising site after four years absence, we were pleased to see that it has been considerably revamped. It is, however, rather startling to read that ‘CMG Worldwide is the exclusive business representative for Oscar Wilde. We work with companies around the world who wish to use his name or likeness in any commercial fashion […] The names and the signatures of our clients are trademarks owned and protected by the estates. In addition, the image, name, and voices of our clients are protectable property right owned by the estates. Any use of the above, without the express written consent of the estate is strictly prohibited. We will consider your request to use the name, voice or image of our clients. Please e-mail us with your proposed use and we will promptly respond to you’ – doubtless having faxed Oscar in the meantime. The site (last updated on 16th May 2006) is still headed ‘The Official Website of Oscar Wilde.’ The Duchess of Padua has now been given her correct title, and although the essay by Merlin Holland has vanished away and the bibliography is now called ‘Shopping’, we do learn that ‘the Victorian era swept through London in the late nineteenth century’ and that Wilde had three middle names ‘at his birth’, pretty remarkable, really.
v Added May 2008: Mr Holland told us recently that this company was engaged to collect such small U.S. royalties as the Wilde Estate still yields, and the rest is the company’s own inflation. The most recent ‘news’ that the site offers is dated 16th May 2006.
http://www.imagi-nation.com/moonstruck/clsc38.html is a site headed Theatre History.com where Wilde’s names are given in the wrong order and we are told that ‘In 1900, Oscar Wilde died penniless and alone in a Paris hotel. He was buried without much ceremony in the cemetery of Père Lachaise.’  Moonstruck indeed: one day we will construct the biography of this other Oscar Wilde, compiled from such snippets.
v In January 2003 we added:  We have a soft spot for this site, inspirer of our Other Oscar section.  It has changed little, though one now has to fossick about a bit for the reference to Theatre History.  Once found it links to its own site, http://www.theatrehistory.com/index.html, which we shall examine more thoroughly on a future occasion.
v Added January 2007: This has changed again, and brings one straight to an Oscar Wilde page headed ‘Three Plays of the Absurd’. The biographical section still contains the sentence quoted above; and we are further told that ‘His standard costume included a velvet coat edged with braid, knee breeches, black silk stockings, a soft loose shirt with wide low turned-down collar, and a large flowing pale green tie. He topped the costume off with sunflowers and lillies [sic] in his buttonhole, a garish touch which became almost a signature for the outrageous public figure Wilde was so shrewdly constructing’ and that he was prosecuted for offences against minors. Good site for Other Oscar watchers.
v Added May 2008: This has changed once more – it is necessary to use http://www.theatrehistory.com/irish/wilde001.html which brings one to a short article ‘originally published in Minute History of the Drama. Alice B. Fort & Herbert S. Kates. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1935. p. 98.’ 1935 ! Good for another Other Oscar-ism, however: ‘Salome, written in French in 1893 for Sarah Bernhardt, received a single performance in Paris in 1904, and is today much better known through Richard Strauss’ operetta, for which it served as the libretto.’ Operetta? Could they have mixed up Oscar and Strauss with Oscar Straus?
http://intendo.net/chem/wildechron.html. Nice site, if somewhat slight and containing information more extensively found elsewhere.  The chronology is one of the more comprehensive and accurate ones, despite its references to ‘Lady Windermer’ and ‘Marguess of Queensbury’.  Its greatest oddity is that it is an off-spring of a site called Chemical World.  That this was created by Eric Hwang, a mathematical student at Duke University, can be added to our knowledge of the breadth of Wilde’s appeal.  The only other person with a page devoted to him on this site is Morrissey, a singer who himself is an admirer of Wilde’s.
v In January 2003 we added:  This site still exists, though all reference to Mr Hwang has vanished.
v Added January 2006: This has developed into the standard sort of Oscar Wilde site, with chronology, quotations, links etc., obviously the somewhat superfluous work of a fan who remains anonymous.
v Added May 2008: the homepage is now established at http://intendo.net/chem/wilde2.html but the site remains unchanged.
First reported March 2002
§ http://www.geocities.com/~newgeneration/wilde/wilde_voice.html is an interesting and well-illustrated site by Joe Knapp, discussing the controversy over the alleged recording Wilde made at the Paris Exposition Universelle of 1900.  Well worth a look – and a listen.  It is a subsidiary page of http://www.geocities.com/~newgeneration/wilde/wilde_voice.html which deals with Wilde and d’Oyley Carte in America.
v In March 2003 we added:  Fortunately this site is still with us.
v Sadly, when revisiting this site in March 2007, we received a message that it could not be found. We hope to track it down: it would be a great loss if it no longer exists at all.
v Added May 2008: We are very pleased to say that this can now be found at http://copperas.com/wilde/wilde_voice.html.
§ http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/wilde/wilde.htm is maintained by Douglas Linder of the law faculty in the University of Missouri - Kansas City and is a comprehensive and valuable treatment over many pages of Wilde and his trials and imprisonment, and the prison writings.
v In March 2003 we added:  This too is still in place, but does not appear to have acquired any additional material.
v Added March 2007: this site is fortunately still in place, and has apparently been redesigned (although our memory of it four years ago is dim enough). The bibliography badly needs updating.
v Added May 2008: The above remains true.
First reported April 2002
http://www.rohdenetz.de/wilde/is an ambitious German site, dedicated to Oscar Wilde—Ästhet und Provokateur with biography, bibliography, aphorisms and guest book, although this has only been inscribed by six visitors, one of whom is ‘Sebastian Melmoth’ and another ‘Miss Yetti’.
v In April 2003 we added:  The website of Stefan Rohde, this was last updated on 24th January 2003.  There is now a gallery of caricatures and some pages of photographs.  This remains a well-organised and dignified website – and the guest book has had more signatories.
v Added May 2008: It is no longer possible to say when this was last updated, but there are not many more entries in the guestbook, and one may assume that the site has been completed.
First reported May 2002
http://members.tripod.com/~darkindia/index2.htm takes one to  Ritratto di Oscar Wilde, an Italian website visited since 23rd March 1998  74,671 times.  There is a biography, a bibliography of works published in English during Wilde’s lifetime, a number of aphorisms in Italian translation, a short list of familiar links, and although a page listing critical works is flagged as under construction, the site has not been updated since 14th August 1998.  Its guest book may form a starting point for Italian Wildeans to keep in touch. It is maintained by Samantha Colombo.
v In May 2003 we added:  This too has fallen into neglect, with no more recent update than the one noted, although messages continue to be left in the guest book.
v Added May 2008: Samantha Colombo’s site remains unchanged.
First reported June 2003
Samantha Andrea Núñez Andrade lives in Lima, Peru, and studies textile design. She is also the administrator of ‘El Clavel Verde’, an Oscar Wilde website for Spanish speakers.  At the moment it is chiefly a message board, with some pictures and texts, and we look forward to its development.  ‘El Clavel Verde’ can be found at http://groups.msn.com/ElClavelVerde.
v Added May 2008: This can no longer be found, and the address we had for Ms Núñez Andrade now bounces.
X SITES DECEASED OR DERELICT WHEN RESEARCHED FOR THIS UPDATE
First reported August 2001
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/oscarwildefans is ‘for fans of Oscar Wilde to discuss him, his life, related topics, and meet one another’. Founded in July 2000 it has four members, only one of whom has so far placed a message on the site.
v Added August 2002:  This still has only four members and only one message has been posted in the last two years.
v Added August 2003: Although three messages have been posted since this time last year, we were unable to gain access to them. Membership remains at 4 and one may assume the group to be defunct.
v Added May 2008: This no longer exists.
First reported September 2001
http://communities.msn.it/IlsitodiDorian&naventryid=100 is the website of Dorian’s World, composed by a young woman with the name Silvia Dorian. Access to much of it is password guarded, but it contains poems by Wilde and Douglas, pictures of Wilde (and of herself) and an introduction (in Italian) by Ms Dorian about her love of Wilde. This was founded in October 2000, but we appear to be the only member. She has also founded yet another message forum, called Oscar Wilde’s World. Launched in December 2000, it has at time of writing 43 members, some of whom seem a little strange, and 67 messages posted. [http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/oscarwildesworld]
v Added September 2002: There has been little activity on this double site, and our efforts to contact Ms Dorian remain unrequited. Although nine new messages to Oscar Wilde’s World have been posted, membership has fallen to thirty-nine.
v Added September 2003: This site has now sadly fallen into decay.  Oscar Wilde’s World still has 38 members, but only a couple of messages have been posted in the last year, and the parent site seems to be no longer accessible.
v Added May 2008: Ms Dorian’s sites have disappeared, and Oscar Wilde’s World has also fallen prey to Sexy Sophia and her friends. Not recommended.
First reported January 2002
http://www.tidmus.com/oscarwilde/welcome.html is a very well designed site of information about Wilde, where form predominates over content.
v In January 2003 we added:  Our attempt to revisit this site brought the message The requested URL /oscarwilde/welcome.html was not found on this server.
v Added January 2007: This site remains defunct.
v Added May 2008: Still dead: even www.tidmus.com no longer exists.
First reported February 2002
http://www.artofwilde.hpg.ig.com.br/ is an elaborate new Brazilian Oscar Wilde site, O Retrato de Oscar Wilde, with biography, links, list of works, many photographs and The Picture of Dorian Gray in Portuguese.  There is also a guest book and an associated discussion group, presumably also in Portuguese.  This is the brainchild of Sheyla de Campos, and well demonstrates the appeal of Wilde extending to places that would surely have surprised even him.
v In February 2003 we added: Its counter has registered over six thousand visitors and its links section has grown (though not so much as to include THE OSCHOLARS.)  Even more astonishing is that its guest book has been visited by 503746 people, even though it only numbers 45 members, who have left 363 messages.  Liberal use is made of the logo of The Oscar Wilde Society.
v Added February 2007: The site is being reconstructed: Esta página está em construção. Volte em breve para conferir!
v Added May 2008: Sadly, this site no longer exists, and an internet search for Sheyla de Campos brought no results
http://www.caltanet.it/html/dossier/arte/wilde/ is an Italian site, not very large, well-designed, with a biography of Wilde by Diana Letizia, a useful filmography, a bibliography of those works published in Wilde’s lifetime, and a small selection of aphorisms.  There are a number of photographs, mostly familiar.
v In February 2003 we added:  This is as it was, not including last year’s film of The Importance of being Earnest.
v Added February 2007: This now brings up the Caltanet home page and all reference to Wilde and Diana Letizia has vanished. A rather random search on ‘All the Web’ brought no information about Diana Letizia either.
v Added May 2008. No change here.
First reported September 2003
www.oscariana.net is the website of John d’Addario, called ‘Oscariana: the life and times of Oscar Wilde’.  This is a life of Oscar Wilde through quotations from contemporary sources, including Wilde’s letters. Navigation is through ‘previous and next’ page links.  Each page link is well-designed, and this is a decent contribution to Wilde on the internet.
v Added May 2008: This no longer exists, and the domain name is offered for sale.
Collections
First reported September 2001
§  http://webtext.library.yale.edu/sgml2html/beinecke.wilde.sgm.html is a guide to the twenty-eight Wilde items held in the Yale University Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
v Added September 2002: On checking this address for this edition of THE OSCHOLARS, however, we received the message: The requested object does not exist on this server. The link you followed is either outdated, inaccurate, or the server has been instructed not to let you have it.
v Added September 2003: We are pleased to say that this Guide has been re-assigned to http://webtext.library.yale.edu/xml2html/beinecke.WILDE.con.html
v Added May 2008: This link still works.
Texts, EDITIONS & STUDY GUIDES on line
First reported July 2001
http://www.mastertexts.com/Wilde_Oscar/Index.htm provides texts on-line of An Ideal Husband, Lady Windermere’s Fan, The Picture of Dorian Gray and A Woman of No Importance.
v Added May 2008: unchanged.
First reported October 2001
§ http://home.att.net/~smerela/giant1.html, maintained by Donnis Coleman, is an illustrated edition of The Selfish Giant, and probably the best version of this to appear on the web.
v Added October 2002: We have no reason to change this opinion.
v Added October 2003:  We are glad that this delightful version is still in place.
v Added May 2008: As it still is.
First reported November 2001
§ http://www.public.iastate.edu/~spires/Concord/earnest.html is a concordance to The Importance of Being Earnest created by Rosanne G. Potter and Joe Struss of Iowa State University. Founded on the 5th July 1999 and updated on 10th July 2000, it has registered 56,953 ‘hits’ at time of going to press. This is a very valuable research tool.
v Added November 2002:  It was again updated on the 2nd April 2002, and now has registered 17,018 hits, which suggests that it is ‘going round the clock’ a second time.
v Added May 2008: This does not seem to have been updated, and its counter was no longer visible. Other concordances on this site are for Candida, A Doll’s House, The Father, and Juno and the Paycock.
First reported June 2002
http://www.findarticles.com/cf_0/PI/search.jhtml?magR=all+magazines&key=Oscar+Wilde will take you to a list of 10,059 articles relating to Wilde.
v Added May 2008: oddly, six years on, the number has dropped to 1,791, many of them ephemeral newspaper mentions.
§ http://www.sepulchritude.com/chapelperilous/decollete/decollete-salome.html is devoted to Salome, Judith and severed heads.
v Added May 2008: This site is alive and well, last updated 15th September 2006.
First reported January 2007
http://manybooks.net/authors/wildeosc.html. This site contains free downloads of many of Wilde’s works, notably some in Dutch and French translations.
An Ideal Husband, 1895	Individualisme en socialisme Soul of Man under Socialism, 1913
Ballad of Reading Gaol, 1898	Intentions, 1891
The Canterville Ghost, 1906	La maison de la courtisane Nouveaux Poèmes, 1919
Charmides and Other Poems	Lady Windermere’s Fan, 1917
De Profundis, 1905	Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime and Other Stories, 1891
De profundis [Dutch Translation], 1905	The Picture of Dorian Gray, 1890
Derniers essais de littérature et d’esthétique: août 1887-1890, 1913	Poems
The Duchess of Padua, 1883	Salome, 1893
Essays and Lectures	Selected Poems of Oscar Wilde
A Florentine Tragedy La Sainte Courtisane (fragments), 1908	Selected Prose of Oscar Wilde
The Happy Prince and Other Tales, 1888	Shorter Prose Pieces
Het portret van Dorian Gray, 1890	The Soul of Man Under Socialism, 1904
A House of Pomegranates, 1915	A Woman of No Importance, 1893
The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895
v Added May 2008: This site is still there, but no further texts have been added.
X SITES DECEASED OR DERELICT WHEN RESEARCHED FOR THIS UPDATE
First reported August 2001
http://doriangray.cjb.net/is devoted entirely to The Picture of Dorian Gray, constructed by Mary Papayianni who is also engaged in creating Crime and Punishment and Wuthering Heights sites.
v Added August 2002:  On re-applying to this address, however, we reached the front page of Crosswinds.net bearing the minatory notice ‘Due to overwhelming abuse, direct linking to non-HTML files on Crosswinds is prohibited.’  Elaborate instructions then follow about how to apply for permission and the details that one must give in order to obtain it.  This made this high-spirited and ambitiously designed site to most intents and purposes inaccessible.  Fortunately, Ms Papayianni subsequently created a new address – www.saikk.net/doriangray – and also an automatic redirection to this from the old address.  Recommended as a starting point for students.  The bibliography, however, is rather thin.
v Added August 2003: Two years on, the bibliography looks even slimmer, and the link to the discussion board only brings up the message ‘The file you have attempted to load could not be found.’  Has Ms Papayianni lost heart?  Fortunately, the text of Dorian Gray is still there, chapter by chapter.
v Added May 2008: Now, sadly, this too has vanished.
First reported November 2001
http://www.nauvoo.byu.edu/TheArts/Theater/studypackets/main.cfm from the Theatre Arts & Media Department of Brigham Young University contains twenty-eight sections, each with essays on different plays, including The Importance of Being Earnest. A useful pack for undergraduate teaching of this text.
v Added November 2002:  This site is in good heart and worth a visit.
v Added May 2008: We were unable to raise this site again.
First reported March 2002
http://english.cla.umn.edu/Courseweb/1017/OscarWilde/HOME is The Oscar Wilde Page at the University of Minnesota, last ‘updated’ on 22nd July 1996.  It contains a short list of links to seven other Wilde websites, of which our favourite for ineptitude has to be ‘The Oscar Wilde Project. (CedarNet)  A sparse biography, poorly editted.’  (This is in fact the site of the actor and writer Robert Coyle, http://www.cedarnet.org/owp/, who founded The Oscar Wilde Project in 1992 to develop a new one-man show about Wilde: it has no claims to be a biography of Wilde, sparse or otherwise, and it is perfectly properly ‘editted’. In May 2008 it was still on line)
v In March 2003 we added:  No changes, alas! have been made to this site.
v In March 2007 we received the message that ‘The page you are looking for might have been removed, had its name changed, or is temporarily unavailable.’
v Added May 2008: This we can now declare defunct.
First reported May 2002
http://English.cla.umn.edu/Courseweb/1017/OscarWilde/home ‘maintained by Norman Owens’ but not updated for several years.  Attempts to contact Dr Owens receive this reply: ‘The purpose of this message is to advise you that the mailbox to which your e-mail was delivered has not been recently accessed by the owner. You may wish to consider an alternate means of contacting this person.’
v In May 2003 we added:  This has not been updated since 1996 and the message that bounces e-mails remains the same.
v Added May 2008: This can no longer be found.
First reported January 2003
http://www.geocities.com/SoHo/Bistro/5720/is an anonymous site where most of the works of Wilde can be found. This was created in April 1999, and there is a guestbook for comments (most of them not particularly illuminating, and none later than December 1900.) One feels that this site has not achieved its author’s ambitions.
v Added January 2006: This site no longer exists.
v Added May 2008: Still dead.
Exhibitions
First reported August 2001
§§ http://www.morganlibrary.org/exhibitions/upcoming/html.  The website for the British Library’s Oscar Wilde exhibition ‘A Life in Six Acts’ in its showing, at the J.P. Morgan Library (14th September to 13th January).
v Added August 2003:  This is now to be found at http://www.morganlibrary.org/exhibitions/wilde/html/index.html
v Added May 2008: This has again been resited, to http://www.themorgan.org/exhibitions/exhibPast02Thumbs.asp?id=Wilde
§ http://www.nyu.edu/library/bobst/research/fales/exhibits/wilde/00main.htm is the site set up for the Fales Library Exhibition ‘Reading Wilde, Querying Spaces’ in 1997, and serves as a catalogue to that exhibition. A well designed site of considerable interest, grouped according to ten themes of importance in Wilde’s life and work.
v Added May 2008: This is happily still on line.
First reported July 2002
§  Two well-illustrated websites now contain the material used by Sally Brown for her booklet that accompanied the British Library Wilde in Six Acts exhibition.  These are Oscar Wilde’s Rise to Fame at http://www.fathom.com/feature/121757 and The Downfall of Oscar Wilde at http://www.fathom.com/feature/121694.  Highly recommended.
v Added July 2003: We are pleased that these sites are still accessible.  They can be supplemented with http://www.morganlibrary.org/exhibitions/wilde/html/index.html
v Added May 2008: The ‘fathom’ sites are still in place.
French connections
First reported April 2002
http://www.alalettre.com/ is a scholarly site devoted chiefly to French authors. Guy Jacquemelle has a short and factual piece on Wilde at http://www.alalettre.com/international/wilde-intro.htm.  On the whole the facts give a fairly conventional picture of the public persona of Wilde.  The site contains a bibliography and links, and is a reasonable starting point for French speakers.
v In April 2003 we added:  There have been no updates on this site.
v Added May 2008: This site remains useful but static.
First reported May 2002
A rather odd juxtaposition is that of Oscar Wilde and Stefan Zweig at http://oscarwilde.stefanzweig.org which is a page where one may gain access to quotations from Wilde in English and in French translation by typing a keyword into a search engine.  The connexion with Stefan Zweig is not explained and there is nothing else, though what there is, is useful enough.
v In May 2003 we added:  This remains unaltered.
v Added May 2008: This remains unaltered.
Wilde, Dorothy (‘Dolly’)
First reported January 2002
§§ http://www.home.earthlink.net/~mdeguzman.  These are the webpages of Jill Casid and María DeGuzmán.  The Oscaria/Oscar photographs are a tribute to Oscar Wilde and his niece Dolly Wilde (1899-1941) who dressed like her uncle and proclaimed herself more Oscar-like than Oscar was like himself.  Wilde is never far away from this partnership’s work – ‘The Soul of Mannequin under Capitalism’ is one of the first photographs one encounters on the site, a title which affirms both the political stance and the imaginative qualities of SPIR.  The site is slow to access, being full of photographs, well worth waiting for.  These are all copyright to SPIR.
v Added January 2006: This exciting site has survived the dissolution of the partnership of Casid and DeGuzmán in 2003. The latter, who is associate professor of Latina/o Literature(s) & Culture(s) in the English Department at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, now has her website at www.cameraquery.com, but the Wilde element remains at SPIR and Professor DeGuzmán continues as webmistress.
v Added May 2008: One now has to scroll down quite far to find Dolly Wilde, and the article about her (or SPIR’s concept of her) has been reduced.
Wilde, Jane Lady (‘Speranza’)
First reported October 2001
§ http://www.indiana.edu/~letrs/vwwp/wilde/speranza.html contains works by Speranza transcribed and encoded by Carolyn C. Sherayko and edited by Perry Willett as part of the Victorian Women Writers Project.
v Added October 2003.  This valuable site is still accessible.
v Added May 2008: As it still is.
MISCELLANÆOUS
First reported April 2002
http://www.hermenaut.com is the site of a magazine called Hermenaut, ‘a twice-yearly journal of philosophy and pop-culture, has been described as “a zine that gives voice to indie intellectual thought,” “a scholarly journal minus the university,” and “a sounding board for thinking folk who operate outside the ivory tower.” Founded in 1992 by a rag-tag group of outsider intellectuals, Hermenaut uses the tools of philosophy, sociology, and critical theory to explode the received notions of academia and the hipster demimonde alike.’ Into which of these categories Oscar Wilde fits is unclear, but there is an article about Wilde and camp by Hermenaut’s Editor and Publisher Joshua Glenn at http://www.hermenaut.com/a163.shtml/
v In April 2003 we added:  This seems to be much as it was.
v Added May 2008: Five years on, and this is still there, without anything added.
First reported September 2002
§ John Cooper has kindly drawn our attention to a new page of the ‘Google’ search engine that surveys publishers’ catalogues for Wilde in print. http://catalogs.google.com/catalogs?q=oscar+wilde&hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8&start=0.
v Added September 2003: 113 of these are now listed.
v Added May 2008: Only 39 currently listed, not all really relevant.
First reported June 2003
§ The Oscar Wilde Collection is a new Wilde site at http://www.planetmonk.com/wilde/index.html.  Wilde’s works are reproduced in attractive form.  Designed by Shakarian Knight for Kabuki Haus Graphics, it well deserves its 9,000 visitors since March of this year.
v Added May 2008: This site continues to please. Russell Taylor has replaced Shakarian Knight as designer, and there is no longer a counter recoding the number of visitors.
X SITES DECEASED OR DERELICT WHEN RESEARCHED FOR THIS UPDATE
First reported December 2001
http://www.npr.org/ramfiles/totn/19990112.tot5n.02.ram is an audio site (originally broadcast in the United States on 1st December 1999) where Merlin Holland, Moises Kaufman and others discuss Wilde against the background of Mr Kaufman’s play Gross Indecency.
v Added December 2002:  Page not found was the response to our current attempt to raise this site.
v Added May 2008: This has not been restored.
First reported February 2002
The programme of the celebrations of the Wilde Centenary in Oxford (2000) can still be found at http://wilde.magd.ox.ac.uk/Wilde100/Introduction/index.html.
v Added February 2007: This address brought up a message to say that no site corresponds with it.
v Added May 2008: No change here. This rather valuable record seems to have completely vanished.
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