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"Like two doomed ships that pass in stormWe had crossed each other's way:But we made no sign, we said no word,We had no word to say"-Oscar Wilde, The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) The poem The Ballad of Reading Gaol (1898) by Oscar Wilde, was inspired by the two years he spent in the jail of Reading Gaol, England. There he experienced the hanging of Royal Horse Guards trooper Charles Thomas Wooldridge, convicted for the murder of his wife. This poem, dedicated to Wooldridge, describes not only his execution, but is also an indictment of the Victorian penal system and a plea for reform of prison conditions.This poem, Wilde's last publication, was very successful and assured he had a steady income until his death at a young age in 1900.

"When I am king they shall not have bread and shelter only, but also teachings out of books, for a full belly is little worth where the mind is starved." -Mark Twain, The Prince and the Pauper (1881) The Prince and the Pauper-A Tale for Young People of All Ages (1881), by Mark Twain, set in 16th-century England, tells the story of two young boys who were born on the same day and are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father, and Edward VI of England, son of King Henry VIII of England. In this tale, Twain satirizes social conventions and offers a critique of legal and moral injustices.This replica of the original edition of The Prince and the Pauper, containing 192 illustrations by Frank T. Merrill and John Harley, is a testament to the perennial quality of this classic.