From Head Librarian Gerald Cloud

Last month’s London Book Fair provided the Clark with some choice new acquisitions, including a rare first hand account of Oscar on the podium. The letter, seen below, was written by Hannah Ann Robinson, latter known by her married name, Nannie Florence Dryhurst, 1856-1930. Written to her future husband, Alfred Robert Dryhurst, the letter describes how Wilde addressed his Dublin audience on 22 November 1883.

Along with the letter is included the promotional flier advertising the two talks Wilde gave in Dublin that Fall. The Clark holds examples of other similar advertising fliers from Wilde’s American tour.

Dyrhurst herself would go on to become a schoolteacher, but more adventurously, a strong advocate for Irish Independence and various anarchic causes in Europe in the early-twentieth century.