16 FEBRUARY 1962, Page 13

SIR,—Oscar Wilde first wrote The In , ortace of Being Earnest

as a four-act comedy. Later, at the request of George Alexander, it was cut to a three- act play. The alterations were made at the typescript stage. The original manuscript which Mr. Gunning saw at the British Museum comprised only Acts Ill and IV. In 1950 Acts I and II were sold by auction and they are now within the Arents Tobacco collec- tion in the New York Public Library. The William Andrews Clarke Memorial Library in Los Angeles contains a MS notebook wherein Wilde jotted down ideas upon dialogue and aphorisms afterwards used in A Woman of No Importance and also The Importance of Being Earnest.

149 Harley Street, W

MACDONALD • 'RFD 'In FY