Antiques Roadshow guest receives staggering appraisal for gift he received years ago at college

Release time：2024-05-19 11:19:03 Source：Worldly Wave news portal

An Antiques Roadshow guest was left stunned after he discovered the appraised value for a gift he received for taking care of show dogs in college. 

The guest had brought a written and signed sonnet by legendary 1800s author, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde that had been gifted to him by a woman he worked for when he was studying in university. 

He told Martin Gammon, an appraiser that while he was being gifted the antique, the woman told him that it had been owned by her father-in-law, Christian Gauss, to whom Wilde had signed the poem. 

'She approached me one day and she said, "I know you're an English major, you'd like this" and she handed it to me,' he said at the show. 

The guest had brought a written and signed sonnet by legendary 1800s author Oscar Wilde that had been gifted to him by a woman he worked for when he was studying in university

He told Martin Gammon, an appraiser, that while he was being gifted the antique, the woman told him that it had been owned by her father-in-law, Christian Gauss, to whom Wilde had signed the poem

Despite the manuscript being titled 'Ideal Love: A Sonnet,' the auctioneer told viewers that it was instead Wilde's more popular poem, 'The New Remorse' - written by him in 1891 for his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas

Gammon then told viewers that Gauss was a professor and dean of at a college in Princeton. 

In 1899, the reputed professor was present for the Dreyfus trial and was writing articles about it when he met Wilde. 

Despite the manuscript being titled 'Ideal Love: A Sonnet,' the auctioneer told viewers that it was instead Wilde's more popular poem, 'The New Remorse' - written by him in 1891 for his lover, Lord Alfred Douglas.

Gammon, who called the gift a 'fascinating piece of history,' asked the guest what he thought the value of poem was, to which the amazed guest replied '$5,000-$6,000.'

But then much to his shock, Gammon revealed that the manuscript was in fact worth $10,000 to $15,000.

Gammon revealed that the manuscript was in fact worth $10,000 to $15,000

Wilde was an Irish poet, playwright and a spokesman for the late 19th-century Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art's sake

The Dreyfus trial was a political scandal that shook France between 1894 to 1906. French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish man of Alsatian descent, had been accused of selling secret documents to the German military in late 1894

The guest, who was left absolutely dazed after knowing the value of the historical gift, responded: 'Great, great'. 

The Dreyfus trial was a political scandal that shook France between 1894 to 1906. 

French Army Captain Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish man of Alsatian descent, had been accused of selling secret documents to the German military in late 1894. 

During the closed trial, Dreyfus was found guilty of treason and sentenced to life in prison. 

In addition to a poet and playwright, Wilde was a spokesman for the late 19th-century Aesthetic movement in England, which advocated art for art's sake. 

By the end of his life, he was subjected to many civil and criminal suits involving homosexuality, which led to his imprisonment. 

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