Summer Schedule

You will have seen my earlier post about Wilde’s lecture in Narragansett Pier.

Perhaps we should place that visit into the wider context of Wilde’s Summer schedule of 1882 and his yearlong lecture tour of North America.

When Oscar concluded his tour of the South at Richmond, VA, he had exhausted both himself and his current itinerary of pre-arranged lectures.

He returned to New York, from where he traveled, with Sam Ward, up to Newport and, after speaking at the Casino on July 15, he did not lecture again for the remainder of the month. It was time for a well-earned vacation taking in the Summer watering places of the North-East.

In the next two weeks he visited Long Beach, Long Island from where much intrigue has flowed following a chance meeting during his visit. He spent three days pleasure yachting with Robert Roosevelt (Theodore’s uncle), calling in at various coastal resorts such as Fire Island. Then, after a fleeting meeting with the actress Clara Morris at Riverdale in New York, he returned to the shore at Long Branch, New Jersey, where he spent the night with former president Ulysses S. Grant. Finally he popped up to Peekskill, NY to visit Henry Ward Beecher, the preacher.

During this period, it appears that Wilde was now, at least partially, free of the fixed demands made by his tour manager. And, yet, although Wilde needed the rest he did not lose his sense of needing the money.

For it appears that while visiting the resorts he, along with his influential host Sam Ward, made arrangements for future lectures at several of the hotels. This staggered approach of vacation visit and remunerative return, has given rise to some misinformation among previous chroniclers about Wilde’s Summer schedule who tend to have him in the right place but at the wrong time. Their confusion is understandable given the less fervent press coverage of Wilde’s movements during the more relaxed and remote Summer season and a generally waning interest in the Oscar fad.

Indeed, the Summer schedule remains somewhat elusive because the newspaper archives of many of these small towns do not exist or have not yet been digitized. Some exist, but only on microfilm (reels) or microfiche (flat sheets).

Undaunted by this challenge, however, the itinerary is complete and Wilde’s Summer schedules in the Catskills and at the Jersey Shore are highlighted here in the Full List of his itinerary.