In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

100 March 1882 begin not in the scholar’s study—not even in the studio of the great artist— but with the handicraftsmen always. And by handicraftsmen I mean a man [sic] who works with his hands, and not with his hands merely, but with his head and his heart. The evil that machinery is doing is not merely in the consequences of its work but in the fact that it makes men themselves machines also. Whereas we wish them to be artists, that is to say men. Now you see what we want.” “How do your audiences in the West impress you?” asked the interviewer . “I should never wish—and no man could—to have a better audience, more simple, more understanding, more quick in their appreciation than the audiences I had in Chicago, Cincinnati, and many of the western cities.” Mr. Wilde remarked that he had seen many men of marvelous physique and many beautiful women in the West and this elicited his opinion that “physical beauty is really, absolutely the basis of all great and strong art.” He believes, too, that all true art work must be wrought by healthy and happy men and women. 28. “Oscar Wilde: An Interview with the Apostle of Aestheticism,” San Francisco Examiner, 27 March 1882, 2 Oscar Wilde arrived in this city at noon yesterday by the overland train. The news that he was on the train induced hundreds of curious persons to go over to the Oakland depot in order to catch a first glimpse of this new lion. To these persons a cursory inspection revealed a tall, well-built, cleanshaven , eccentrically dressed young man with remarkable features, a somber, melancholy face, lighted up at intervals in the conversation going on around him and directed entirely at him, by a frank, pleased smile that came readily and passed away quickly, leaving the face in repose, as before. Wherever he moved the crowd, guided by a large, wide-brimmed, white slouch hat he wore, followed, not obtrusively, but quietly and respectfully. Mr. Wilde was dressed in a style that would attract general attention anywhere outside of an artist’s studio or chambers, and there was no need for anyone to point in order to identify him. From beneath his large white hat fell long light-brown hair, reaching in somewhat straggling masses to the shoulders, half hiding a face inclined to sallowness. A close-fitting black velvet frock coat showed i-xii_1-196_Wild.indd 100 8/4/09 9:11:48 AM March 1882 101 off strong, square shoulders, manly waist and hips. Pants dun brown, highly polished pointed shoes, a velvet waistcoat, low, wide collar, puce-colored tie folded wide, yellow gloves completed the appearance in dress of the outward man. A boutonniere, somewhat withered, made up of heliotropes, a brightly foliated daisy and a tuberose, decorated his coat front. A dark olive-green summer overcoat was carried carelessly over his left arm, and the right hand, when not resting lightly against the chin as if aiding the poet in thought, grasped a thick ivory cane. Thus the object of curiosity appeared to those who yesterday saw him crossing the bay to the city. A quiet conversation with Oscar Wilde would have disclosed nobler material than dress anomalistic of the man. Unfortunately this converse could not be had yesterday in the rush of car and boat, each bend in their rapid onward flight cityward revealing to the ardent lover of nature scenes of picturesque beauty, silencing ordinary speech and thought; a changing panorama of soft murky outlines and hazy tints of color, the center always the sea-green bay, spangled with grassy Yerba Buena, and the gold of Alcatraz, which sparkled like brilliant splotches against indistinct backgrounds of black and indigo, coloring the far-off, woody mountain summits and curving shorelines; the Golden Gate lost in a sunlit mist beyond; San Francisco’s hills, roadways, houses, dimly seen; at its feet a mist from which rose the tall, straight masts of merchant ships, tapering above the mist that hung over the wharves. Not alone the poet, but everyone ending the weary journey here were impressed by what to nearly all was the first view of the “uttermost Occident.” Mr. Wilde was met at Port Costa by several persons, who, for one reason or another, laid a claim to his attention, among them an Examiner representative. All were met with the quiet, dignified courtesy of a gentleman and a man of...

Share