The St. James's Gazette - Wednesday, November 13, 1895

THE BANKRUPTCY OF OSCAR WILDE.

At the Court of Bankruptcy yesterday, before Mr. Registrar Linklater, Oscar Wilde was brought up in custody to undergo his public examination. He estimated that his income amounted to £2,000 a year, and he attributed his insolvency to the failure of legal proceedings instituted by him against the petitioning creditor, the Marquess of Queensberry and to his own arrest and conviction in the recent trial. The receiving order was made in July last, and the accounts which have been filed show liabilities £3,591, and assets consisting of royalties on published literary works and plays, and a life policy the value of which is unestimated. The court was crowded. The bankrupt, examined by Mr. A. H. Wildy, Official Receiver, stated that his income was derived almost entirely from royalties on his plays and literary works, and had amounted to about £2,000 a year. He kept no books of account. He estimated that his expenditure had been at the rate of about £2,900 a year during the two or three years preceding the date of the receiving order. In July, 1893, his liabilities exceeded his assets by about £1,450. It was usual for him to receive payment for royalties in advance, and consequently certain theatrical managers were returned in his accounts as creditors, their security consisting of the acting rights in respect of his plays. The examination was concluded.