Teleny
1893
Anonymous
Cosmopoli, Privately Printed
British
Novel
354pp
Gay Men, Decadence, Erotica, Wildean
Why should we, then, make ourselves unhappy for not having been born angels?
Summary
A pornographic novel said to have been written by several authors including Oscar Wilde. The pianist Teleny and the protagonist des Grieux fall in love, distract each other from that love with sex with others, and eventually face themselves.
More Info
Occasionally subtitled or named, "The Reverse of the Medal" and "A Physiological Romance of To-day."
Des Grieux: The Prelude to "Teleny" was published in 1899 Leonard Smithers, London.
In the 1894 reprint, Charles Hirsch explains that the original publishers, Smithers, gave the original transcript to a friend who passed it to him (Dominique Leroy). Here, he explains that the document seemed to have been written in several hands—including Wilde's. This translation also shifts the setting of the novel from Paris to London, and contains several small changes to the text (Fraser Riddell). Further changes to the differing texts are outlined in "The Introduction to the 1986 GMP edition of Teleny" by John McRae.
Also see:
"Queer Music in the Queen’s Hall: Teleny and Decadent Musical Geographies at the Fin de Siecle" (2020) by Fraser Rissel
Content & Trigger Warnings
(highlight to reveal)
Chapter V:
RAPE: of a female character by the protagonist.
SUICIDE: of the raped female character.
Chapter VI:
SUICIDE: attempted by the protagonist.
Chapter VIII:
SUICIDE: of a minor character.
SUICIDE: of a main character.
Editions
Cosmopoli. Privately Printed (1893). 200 copies in two volumes. Seven known copies are left. The first volume has 163 pages, and the second has 191.
Paris : Charles Hirch (1934) as Teleny: étude physiologique. Includes a "Notice Bibliographique" written by Hirsch.