He is hard to make out at first glance, but sitting among the bowler-hatted students is Oscar Wilde, soon to be one of the mostrecognisable figures in Victorian society.
This rare photograph of Wilde with his fellow undergraduates throws new light on his time at university, and the acolytes who already surrounded the futureauthor, poet and wit.
Auctioneers said the photograph, taken in the cloisters of Magdalen College, Oxford, in 1876, gave a glimpse into a star in the making.
A collector came across it by chance in an album filled with Scandinavian prints and scenes of Dorset and it will come up for auction later this month, with an estimate of £3,000-£5,000.
The 20.5 x 27.5cm albumen print will be pored over by aficionados of the Irish writer, who summed up his time as an undergraduate as the “exquisite art of idleness”, a mantra taken up by generations of students.
Gathered around Wilde, whose life and writings wouldoutrage and delight the Victorian public, are his closest university friends and fellow classicists, William Welsford “Bouncer” Ward and Reginald “Kitten” Harding.
Also in the photograph, authenticated by Dominic Winter Auctioneers, are E Cholmley Jones and AF Peyton, friends from Wilde’s days at Oxford, known to historians from letters and other photographs.
Chris Albury, senior auctioneer and valuer at Dominic Winter, told The Telegraph that the photograph was “not unlike hundreds of other student group photographs taken in the late Victorian era and that sometimes adorn pub and hotel walls”, but for Wilde’s presence.
Saying the picture was likely to have been taken in 1876, he added: “Wilde seems to be the centre of a clique of eight friends who somehow informally combine to set themselves apart from the larger group of otherwise anonymous students and teachers.
“Oscar is clearly the star of this clique, exuding the kind of magnetism that we would expect from such a budding celebrity.
“There are only a handful of photographs of Wilde during his time at Magdalen, so every new photograph is a precious boon to the Wildean community worldwide.”
Also of interest is the presence of a black or mixed-race student in the photograph. This is thought to be Christian Frederick Cole, the only identified black student at Oxford at the time.
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Cole studied first as a non-collegiate student and then at University College from 1873-76, becoming the first black graduate of the University of Oxford.
Darcy Sullivan, of the Oscar Wilde Society, said the photograph gave an insight into the young Wilde and his circle.
“This photo reminds us of two things. First, while Oscar would soon cultivate a distinctive look with long hair, velvet breeches, floppy cravats and green carnations, at Oxford he blended in with his fellow classmates.
“Second, bowler hats and boaters were in vogue in the 1870s; smiling for the camera was not.”
Wilde, whose poetry began to gain attention while he was still at Oxford, would go on to publish his Gothic masterpiece The Picture of Dorian Gray in 1890, 14 years after this photograph.
Five years later, at the height of his fame and with his plays An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest being performed in London, Wilde wasconvicted of gross indecency with menand sentenced to two years’ hard labour.
After his release, he left Britain for France and Italy never to return, writing The Ballad of Reading Gaol in 1898 about his experiences of prison.
The vendor of the Wilde photograph, who lives in West Wales, came across it after buying an old album in an antiques shop, intrigued by its small photographs of rural Lapland, Sweden, Dorset and Oxford.
It was only later that the photograph ofMagdalen Collegeundergrads caught his eye and he recognised Wilde, who once described Oxford as “the most beautiful thing in England”.
The seller approached the auctioneers for a valuation, careful not to send a digital version of the image in case it accidentally found its way into the public domain.
Mr Albury said: “The photograph reminds us that history is not just dates and events, but is made up of real people, their friendships and the moments and influences that shaped them.
“Seeing Wilde in this context allows us to connect with him as a person, not just as a literary figure.”
