Oscar Wilde's library card reissued by British Library 130 years after being revoked over gay conviction
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The British Library will symbolically reinstate the Reader Pass that belonged to the renowned poet and writer Oscar Wilde. As revealed in a Trustees’ entry in the British Museum’s Standing Committee Papers, Wilde was officially excluded from the Library on 15 June 1895, which at the time was still known as the British Museum’s Reading Room.
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. Following the trial, Wilde was sentenced to two years of hard labour and was released from prison in 1897.
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 events of 1895 had a profound impact on his life and career and ultimately saw him seek refuge in France, where he remained until his death.
The physical pass will be officially handed over to Wilde’s only grandson Merlin Holland on 16 October 2025 at a special event at the Library. The moment will also celebrate the launch of Holland’s new book titled After Oscar, which is a study of the rise and fall of Oscar Wilde after his death and will be published by Europa Editions on 16 October 2025 to coincide with Wilde's 171st birthday.
Merlin Holland, author and Oscar Wilde’s grandson, 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."
Dame Carol Black, Chair of the British Library Board, added: "Oscar Wilde was one of the most significant literary figures of the nineteenth century and the British Library holds handwritten drafts of his most famous plays including The Importance of Being Ernest, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance and Lady Windermere’s Fan.
"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."
