A newly-discovered photograph of Irish writer, poet and playwright Oscar Wilde has sold for more than €6,000 at an auction in Britain today.
The photo shows Wilde as a student at Magdalen College, Oxford, aged in his 20s before he went on to become a literary giant in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
The photo was part of a collection that went under the hammer at Dominic Winter Auctioneers in Gloucestershire.
The rare image was discovered by a man in west Wales who had bought a Victorian photo album and by chance spotted the face of a man who he believed was Wilde while flicking through it.
Auctioneer Chris Albury was contacted by the owner and he was able to confirm the photograph's legitimacy.
Mr Albury added: "A few days ago we established the existence of one other copy of the photograph at the Library of Congress, Washington DC.
"Bidders were informed of this, but it remains a very rare photograph of which no copies have been recorded as having been offered for sale before," he said.
Wilde arrived at Magdalen in 1874 and graduated four years later, by which time he had become one of Oxford's most recognisable figures, well-known for his wit and presence.
The group photograph of students and teachers was taken in the Cloisters of Magdalen College, Oxford around 1876.
In the photo, Wilde is among over 50 men are loosely arranged in three rows and mostly wearing suits and either bowler hats or boaters.
Wilde appears in a bowler hat facing the camera five from the left of the middle row, with his close circle of friends arranged nearby.
