Editing Robbie Ross (section)

===After Oscar Wilde===
Ross became Wilde's [[literary executor]], which meant that he had to track down and purchase the [[copyright|rights]] to all of Wilde's texts, which had been sold off along with Wilde's possessions when Wilde was declared [[Bankruptcy|bankrupt]]. It also meant fighting the rampant trade in [[black market]] copies of his books and, in particular, books, usually [[Erotic literature|erotic]], that Wilde did not write, but which were published illegally under his name.{{Citation needed|date=February 2013}}

Ross was assisted in this task by [[Christopher Sclater Millard]], who compiled a definitive bibliography of Wilde's writings. Ross gave Wilde's sons the rights to all their father's works along with the [[Royalties|money earned]] from their publication or performance while he was executor. In 1905, he attended the first performances in England of Wilde's ''[[Salome (play)|Salome]]'' at the Bijou Theatre. One of the actors was Frederick Stanley Smith (1885–1953) with whom Ross had a relationship.<ref>Roberts, Maria (2016) Let Them Say: The Life of Frederick Stanley Smith</ref>

About 1902, he arranged for the transfer of Wilde's remains "from the obscure Bagneux cemetery to Père Lachaise, the most celebrated cemetery in France" and later instructed his heirs to have his own ashes buried in Wilde's tomb.<ref>{{cite news | access-date = 31 October 2022 | newspaper = New York Times | date = 14 January 2001 | url = https://archive.nytimes.com/www.nytimes.com/books/01/01/14/reviews/010114.14colelt.html | title = Buried in Oscar's Tomb [Review of Jonathan Fryer, ''Oscar Wilde's Devoted Friend''] | first = Connolly | last = Cole }}</ref>

[[File:Robert Ross (1869-1918) nel 1911 in una foto di Elliott and Fry.JPG|thumb|right|Robert Baldwin Ross, 1911]]In 1908, some years after Wilde's death, Ross produced the definitive edition of his works. Ross was also responsible for commissioning [[Jacob Epstein]] to produce the sculpture that can now be seen on [[Oscar Wilde's tomb|Wilde's tomb]]. He even requested that Epstein design a small compartment for Ross's own ashes. As a result of his faithfulness to Wilde even in death, Ross was vindictively pursued by [[Lord Alfred Douglas]], who repeatedly attempted to have him arrested and tried for homosexual conduct.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

From 1901 to 1908, in personal and professional partnership with the art critic [[More Adey]], Ross managed the Carfax Gallery, a small commercial gallery in London co-founded by John Fothergill and the artist [[William Rothenstein]].<ref name="borland"/> The Carfax held exhibitions of works by such artists as [[Aubrey Beardsley]], [[William Blake]], [[Sylvia Gosse]], and [[John Singer Sargent]].<ref name="etheses.whiterose.ac.uk">{{cite thesis|url=http://etheses.whiterose.ac.uk/1106/1/EquivocalPositionsWilliamRothenstein.pdf |title='EQUIVOCAL POSITIONS': THE INFLUENCE OF WILLIAM ROTHENSTEIN, c.1890-1910 |first=Samuel |last=Shaw |date=August 2010 |degree=PhD |publisher=The University of York |access-date=8 April 2024}}</ref> After leaving the Carfax, Ross worked as an art critic for ''[[The Morning Post]]''.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Robert Baldwin Ross |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/robert-baldwin-ross |access-date=2024-05-11 |website=www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca |language=en}}</ref>

During the [[First World War]], Ross mentored a group of young, mostly homosexual, poets and artists including [[Siegfried Sassoon]] and [[Wilfred Owen]]. He was also a close friend of Wilde's sons [[Vyvyan Holland]] and [[Cyril Holland]].{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

In early 1918, during the [[German spring offensive]], [[Noel Pemberton Billing]], a right-wing member of Parliament, published an article entitled "The Cult of the Clitoris" in which he accused members of Ross's circle of being among 47,000 homosexuals who were betraying the nation to the Germans. [[Maud Allan]], an actress who had played Wilde's Salome in a performance authorised by Ross, was identified as a member of the "cult". She unsuccessfully sued Billing for libel, causing a national sensation in Britain. The incident brought embarrassing attention to Ross and his associates.{{Citation needed|date=January 2023}}

Later, in 1918, Ross was preparing to travel to [[Melbourne]], to open an exhibition at the [[National Gallery of Victoria]], when he died suddenly in London on 5 October 1918.<ref name=borland>{{cite book |last1= Borland|first1= Maureen|title= Wilde's Devoted Friend: A Life of Robert Ross 1869–1918|year= 1990|publisher= Lennard|location= Oxford|isbn= 1-85291-085-2}}{{page needed|date=October 2022}}</ref>

In 1950, on the 50th anniversary of Wilde's death, an urn containing Ross's ashes was placed into Wilde's tomb in [[Père Lachaise Cemetery]] in Paris.<ref>{{cite web | access-date = 31 October 2022 | url = https://oscarwildehouse.com/2021/11/29/the-scandal-of-the-tomb-of-oscar-wilde/ | website = Oscar Wilde House | title = The Scandal of the Tomb of Oscar Wilde | date = 29 November 2019 }}</ref>