The British Library will symbolically reinstate the reader pass that belonged to Oscar Wilde, 130 years after the renowned writer was officially excluded from what was then the British Museum’s Reading Room.
Wilde was convicted of “gross indecency” and sentenced to two years of hard labor in 1895 due to his homosexual relationships.
The announcement this week marks the anniversary of the decision taken on 15 June 1895 and coincides with Pride Month.
The physical pass will be officially presented to Wilde’s grandson, Merlin Holland, at a special event in October 2025.
The ceremony will also celebrate the launch of Holland’s new book “After Oscar”, a study of Wilde’s posthumous legacy.
Holland said: “Oscar had been in Pentonville prison for three weeks when his ticket to the British Museum Reading Room was cancelled, so he wouldn’t have known about it, which was probably as well.
“I think it would have just added to his misery to feel that one of the world’s great libraries had banned him from books just as the Law had banned him from daily life. But the restitution of his ticket is a lovely gesture of forgiveness and I’m sure his spirit will be touched and delighted.”
The decision to revoke Wilde’s reader pass is documented in the British Museum’s Standing Committee Papers, held in the museum’s archives.
The British Library became independent from the British Museum on 1 July 1973 following the British Library Act of 1972, later moving to its current St Pancras site in 1997.
Dame Carol Black, chair of the British Library Board, said Wilde was “one of the most significant literary figures of the nineteenth century” with handwritten drafts of his most famous plays held in the British Library. The British Library’s collection also includes a handwritten love letter he sent to Lord Alfred Douglas from Reading Gaol, titled “De Profundis”.
“Through this tribute we hope to not only honour Wilde’s memory but also acknowledge the injustices and immense suffering he faced as a result of his conviction. We are also delighted to have his grandson, Merlin, receiving the Reader Pass on Oscar’s behalf.”
