[Original Illustrated Manuscripts Of Nonsense Verse] 'The Family Encylopaedia Of Nonsense'. With: 'A Book Of Nonsense: A Series Of Prolongated Cataleptical Hysterics'. And: 'The Gilded Rope: A Society Drama In 3 Acts'. Harris, Clement; [Wagner, Siegfried]; [Wilde, Oscar]:

Three original manuscripts in ink, the first two embellished with numerous bizarre and fantastical watercolour and gouache illustrations: 1. 'The Family Encylopaedia of Nonsense'. Small quarto (21.5 x 17.5cm). Contemporary half green cloth over patterned paper boards, manuscript title label to the upper board. Frankfurt bookseller's label to the front pastedown. Illustrated manuscript title page, followed by 28pp. of manuscript ink text, incorporating 16 colourful watercolour and gouache illustrations (including two tipped-in full-page images), plus a watercolour landscape. Additional page of manuscript notes to the rear regarding a journey through Egypt by Harris. The remainder blank. Dedication to the author's sister Muriel, dated August 14th 1890 to the verso of the title page. Later ink inscription from Muriel to her niece to the front free endpaper. The backstrip detached and with some cracking to the front hinge, although remaining secure. Rubbing to the boards and wear to the corners and board edges. The contents with the title page neatly tipped back in with contemporary postage stamp sheet margins and the odd spot of light foxing are otherwise in good order. 2. 'A Book of Nonsense'. Quarto (24 x 19.5cm). Contemporary half textured cloth over paper-covered boards, manuscript title label to the upper board. Illustrated manuscript title page, followed by 64pp. of manuscript text, almost entirely in ink, incorporating 31 colourful watercolour and gouache illustrations. Further 24pp. pages of notes and verses in ink and pencil to the rear, with scattered pencil sketches and doodles. The remainder blank, although incorporating several other pages of pencil jottings. Dedication to the author's sister Muriel G. E. Harris to the verso of the title page. Later ink inscription from Muriel to her niece to the front pastedown. The backstrip lacking and the boards becoming somewhat loose. Rubbing to the boards and wear to the corners and board edges. Tape repairs to the front and rear hinges. The contents with one page coming loose, scattered toning and marking, and the odd minor chip to page margins are otherwise in good order. 3. 'The Gilded Rope'. Quarto (23.5 x 19cm). Contemporary full padded black leather with gilt initials "C. H." to the upper board. Manuscript title page dated 1892, with dedication by the author to his sister Muriel. 145pp. of manuscript text in black and red ink. The binding extensively worn, the upper board detached and the backstrip lacking. The contents remain in very good order. An eye-catching pair of original manuscript books of nonsense verse incorporating forty-seven bold and bizarre watercolour and gouache illustrations by the English pianist, composer, beloved companion of Siegfried Wagner and close friend of Oscar Wilde, Clement Hugh Gilbert Harris (1871-1897). Born in London into a wealthy ship-owning family, Harris was educated at Harrow and subsequently studied music in Frankfurt, where he was one of the chosen few piano pupils of the distinguished pianist and composer Clara Schumann. In 1889, at a soirée at the house of Edward Speyer, Harris met Siegfried Wagner (1869-1930), son of the famous composer Richard Wagner, who would later become a noted composer and conductor in his own right. These parties at the home of Speyer - a notable patron of the arts - were lively, bohemian affairs, and in the course of the colourful entertainment Wagner would sometimes dress up and perform as a prima ballerina. Harris and Wagner quickly became intimate friends and apparently more, with Harris reputedly being the first to arose Wagner's homoerotic impulses. In early 1892, following a restless summer together in Bayreuth the previous year, the pair left for London, spending time with Oscar Wilde, for whom Harris was something of a protegé. Indeed, Harris would perform Richard Wagner transcriptions for Wilde, and the pair would attend the opera together and talk about "the most marvellous of all things; pa