Previously unseen photo of Oscar Wilde as Oxford student unearthed

By Lauren Beavis

A previously unseen photo of Oscar Wilde as a student at Oxford has been found.

The picture of the playwright among his fellow students in the Cloisters of Magdalen College during 1876 was discovered in a Victorian photo album.

Wilde arrived as an undergraduate in 1874 and graduated four years later — by which time he had swiftly become one of Oxford's most recognizable figures.

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The newly uncovered image is part of a collection set to go to auction at Cirencester-based auction house Dominic Winter Auctioneers today (May 20).

The auctioneers expect the photo album — which features 90 miscellaneous photographs including a "remarkable" photograph of Sir Winston Churchill (1874–1965) riding a horse — to fetch between £3,000 to £5,000 (more than $4,000 to more than $6,000).

The "unusual" photograph of Churchill, who was normally captured on photograph in formal poses and settings, is estimated to fetch £1,000–£1,500 (more than $1,300 to more than $2,000).

An auctioneer at Dominic Winter said: "It represents a rare opportunity for collectors to acquire a signed image of Churchill in an unusually informal and sporting moment."

The sale also includes a poignant photographic work relating to the Kennedy family, preserved directly from the personal estate of celebrated British portrait photographer Marcus Adams (1875–1959).