The Picture of Dorian Gray (Collector's Library)

When first published, The Picture of Dorian Gray was regarded as dangerously modern in its portrayal of fashionable fin de siecle decadence. In Wilde's updated version of the Faust story, the tempter is Lord Henry Wotton, who lives selfishly for amoral pleasure; Dorian's good angel or conscience is the portrait painter Basil Hallward. The book highlights the tension between the polished surface of high society and secret life of vice led by many of its members.