Oscar Wilde letter sells for £12,000 - 26/03/2010

A letter written by Oscar Wilde to his publisher has sold at auction for £12,000.

Initially valued at £6,000, the sale proved to be a great success for the seller, who earned an eye-popping £80 per word, according to the Star.

The letter, which is dated March 15th 1898, was sent by the legendary writer from France.

Part of the lot's allure would have been Wilde's reference in the material to the nature, or perhaps state of, writing in Britain at the time.

He quips: "There are only two forms of writers in England: the unread and the unreadable."

Wilde's publisher Leonard Charles Smithers received a number of letters from the author, including some immediately after his release from prison, following a two-year stint for homosexuality offences.

Oscar Wilde was born in Dublin in 1854. He is regarded as one of the most influential writers of the 19th century.