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Philip Hoare - Oscar Wilde’s Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century

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Philip Hoare Oscar Wilde’s Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century
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Oscar Wilde’s Last Stand: Decadence, Conspiracy, and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century: summary, description and annotation

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The first production of Oscar Wildes Salom in 1918, with American exotic dancer Maud Allan dancing lead, ignited a firestorm in London spearheaded by Noel Pemberton Billing, a member of Parliament and self-appointed guardian of family values. Billing attacked Allan in the right-wing newspaper Vigilante as a member of the Cult of the Clitoris, a feminine version of the Cult of the Wilde, a catchall for the degeneracy and perversion he was convinced had infected the land. He claimed that a black book was in the hands of their enemies the Germans, a book that contained the names of thousands of the British establishment who without doubt were members of the cult. Threat of exposure was costing England the war.Allan sued Billing for libel, and the ensuing trial, brought to life in this authoritative, spellbinding book, held the world in thrall. Was there or was there not a black book? What names did it contain? The trial was both hugely entertaining and deadly serious and raised specters of hysteria, homophobia, and paranoia that, like Oscar Wilde himself, continue to haunt us. As in Wildes own trial in 1895, libel was hardly the issue; the fight was for control over the countrys moral compass. In Oscar Wildes Last Stand, biographer and historian Philip Hoare gives us the full drama of the Billing trial, gavel to gavel, and brings to life this unique, bizarre, and fascinating event.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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Also by Philip Hoare Serious Pleasures The Life of Stephen Tennant Nol - photo 1

Also by Philip Hoare Serious Pleasures The Life of Stephen Tennant Nol - photo 2

Also by Philip Hoare

Serious Pleasures: The Life of Stephen Tennant

Nol Coward: A Biography

In memory of Peter

Copyright 1997 by Philip Hoare

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without the express written consent of the publisher, except in the case of brief excerpts in critical reviews or articles. All inquiries should be addressed to Arcade Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018.

This Arcade Publishing paperback edition 2017

Arcade Publishing books may be purchased in bulk at special discounts for sales promotion, corporate gifts, fund-raising, or educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to specifications. For details, contact the Special Sales Department, Arcade Publishing, 307 West 36th Street, 11th Floor, New York, NY 10018 or .

Arcade Publishing is a registered trademark of Skyhorse Publishing, Inc., a Delaware corporation.

Visit our website at www.arcadepub.com.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hoare, Philip.

Title: Oscar wildes last stand : decadence, conspiracy, and the most outrageous trial of the century / Philip Hoare.

Description: New York : Arcade Publishing, 2017. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2016048797 | ISBN 9781628726954 (paperback)

Subjects: LCSH: Billing, Noel Pemberton, 1881-1948--Trials, litigation, etc. | Trials (Libel)--England--London. | Allan, Maud. | Wilde, Oscar, 1854-1900. Salom?e. | BISAC: HISTORY / Europe / Great Britain. | PERFORMING ARTS / Theater / History & Criticism. | BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY / Entertainment & Performing Arts.

Classification: LCC KD373.B54 H63 2017 | DDC 346.4203/4--dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016048797

Cover design by Erin Seaward-Hiatt

Front cover image courtesy of Terence Pepper, National Portrait Gallery, and the author

Print ISBN: 978-1-62872-695-4

Ebook ISBN: 978-1-62872-763-0

Printed in the United States of America

Oscar Wildes Last Stand Decadence Conspiracy and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century - image 3 Contents Oscar Wildes Last Stand Decadence Conspiracy and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century - image 4
Acknowledgements

It was in Paul Fussells ground-breaking cultural study, The Great War and Modern Memory , which I read when working on a biography of Stephen Tennant, that I first heard of the Billing trial. Tennant conducted a traumatic post-war affair with Siegfried Sassoon, who reappeared in Pat Barkers Regeneration trilogy; as did an evocative recreation of the atmosphere around the Billing affair. In the meantime, the trial resurfaced in my research on Noel Cowards early life; reading original copies of the Imperialist and the Vigilante was a chilling experience, yet more so as the political complexion of Billings campaign became clear. Discovering Michael Kettles account in Salomes Last Veil (another coincidence; I had already decided on my title) led me to other, wider conclusions. This book owes much to Dr Kettle, Felix Cherniavsky, and the other historians and biographers on whose work I have drawn.

I am also indebted to Hugo Vickers for his usual clear-eyed and practical assistance. Mark Ashurst, Michael Bracewell, Peter Goddard, Clare Goddard, Robert Holden, Christina Larcombe-Moore and Neil Tennant provided encouragement and intellectual vision. Many others contributed material and ideas, among them: Elaine Burrows, Peter Burton, Jane Bywaters, Roger Cazalet, Terry Charman, Karl Chatfield-Moore, James Chatfield-Moore, Michael Cockerell, Bryan Connon, Betty Eastman, Claire Eastman, Stephen Fry, James Gardiner, Katherine Goonetillake, Alix Holden, Michael Holden, Clyde Jeavons, Adam Low, Stephen Moore, Theresa Moore, Peter Parker, Terence Pepper, Jane Preston, Kenneth Rose, Patricia Thompson, Paul Walter, John Waters, and Simon Watney. Vivienne Westwood supplied sartorial inspiration.

I should also like to thank the following institutions: the British Library Department of Manuscripts and Newspaper Library; Associated Newspapers; the Imperial War Museum; Royal Victoria Park, Netley; the British Film Institute; the Southern Daily Echo ; Johannesburg Art Gallery; Somerset House; the Guildhall Library; the Barbican Library; and the Theatre Museum.

Lastly, I must thank my agent, the redoubtable Gillon Aitken; Robin Baird-Smith, my elegant, patient publisher; and all the staff at Duckworth who made this book possible.

Philip Hoare, Shoreditch, 1997

Oscar Wildes Last Stand Decadence Conspiracy and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century - image 5 Introduction Oscar Wildes Last Stand Decadence Conspiracy and the Most Outrageous Trial of the Century - image 6

They may be yellow and crumbling, but pages of the January 1918 edition of the Imperialist newspaper still make startling reading. There exists in the Cabinet Noir of a certain German Prince a book compiled by the Secret Service from reports of German agents who have infested this country for the past 20 years, it reports. In the beginning of the book is a precis of general instructions regarding the propagation of evils which all decent men thought had perished in Sodom and Lesbia. The blasphemous compilers even speak of the Groves and High Places mentioned in the Bible There are the names of 47,000 English men and women Privy Councillors, wives of Cabinet Ministers, even Cabinet Ministers themselves, diplomats, poets, bankers, editors, newspaper proprietors, and members of His Majestys Household prevented from putting their full strength into the war by corruption and blackmail and fear of exposure. No English man would be naturally guilty of such offences: it required the filthy Hun to lead him on. Naval dockyards and engine rooms were infiltrated, and the stamina of British sailors was undermined Even to loiter in the streets was not immune agents of the Kaiser were stationed at such places as Marble Arch and Hyde Park Corner Wives of men in supreme position were entangled. In Lesbian ecstasy the most sacred secrets of State were betrayed. The sexual peculiarities of members of the peerage were used as a leverage to open fruitful fields for espionage.

The publisher of the Imperialist was Noel Pemberton Billing, thirty-seven-year-old Independent member of parliament for East Hertfordshire. A man of notable prejudices, he had been indicted for libel on at least two previous occasions, as well as being often censured for unparliamentary language and the odd prosecution for driving at excessive speed. His politics were unerringly jingoistic: he called for internment of all enemy aliens, as well as punitive bombing of German cities; he called the scorn of his Parliamentary opponents the laughter of fools. But Billings latest campaign was a tour-de-force of prejudice, encompassing his manifold obsessions in one almighty conspiracy theory. At its centre was the allegation that the 47,000 were ruled by the still extant cult of Oscar Wilde, a foreign decadence corrupting the cultural and political elite. Billings claims struck deep into the sensibilities of wartime Britain and its leaders, sensitive to criticism of the way the war was being fought. His allegations played on deep-seated ideas of nationalism, xenophobia, homophobia and anti-semitism which remain with us today.

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