THE British Library has confirmed it will reinstate an historic reader pass once belonging to Oscar Wilde which was revoked when he was found guilty of ‘gross indecency’ in 1895.
“After 130 years, the British Library plans to symbolically reinstate the Reader Pass that belonged to the renowned poet and writer Oscar Wilde,” the organisation confirmed this month.
“As revealed in a Trustees’ entry in the British Museum’s Standing Committee Papers, Wilde was officially excluded from the Library on June 15 in 1895, which at the time was still known as the British Museum’s Reading Room,” they explain.
Wilde's exclusion from the library is referenced in trustees papers from May 1889 to April 1896, in the British Museum Archive (Pic: Trustees of the British Museum)“The decision to revoke Wilde’s Reader Pass was made following the trial and conviction he faced as a result of the Criminal Law Amendment Act of 1885, which criminalised acts of "gross indecency" between men.”
Theya added: “Oscar Wilde is regarded by many as one of the greatest playwrights of the Victorian age and is celebrated for his prolific literary output, including novels, poems and plays.”
The library holds a collection of Wilde’s works, including the handwritten love letter written by Oscar Wilde to Lord Alfred Douglas from Reading Gaol titled De Profundis.
His reinstated pass will be officially handed over to Wilde’s only grandson Merlin Holland at a special event due to be held at the library in October 2025.
During the event Holland will launch his new book After Oscar, which is described as “the definitive study of the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde”.
The book will be released on October 16, 2025 to coincide with Wilde's 171st birthday.
