More than a century after it was taken away, Oscar Wilde's library card is active once again. The British Library has reissued a reader's card for Wilde, 130 years after the famed Irish novelist and playwright lost his library access due to a conviction for "gross indecency" based on a charge that he engaged in homosexual relationships. Wilde, sentenced to two years in prison with hard labor, had been imprisoned for a few weeks when library trustees revoked his access in June 1895, per the BBC. The library, then affiliated with the British Museum, had required the revocation of cards for anyone found guilty of a crime.
The new card will be collected Thursday by Wilde's grandson and only living descendant, writer Merlin Holland, at a ceremony coinciding with what would have been Wilde's 171st birthday. Holland said the offering of the card was "a lovely gesture of forgiveness," adding he believes his grandfather "would be touched and delighted." He said he hears often from readers about how much Wilde's De Profundis, a letter written to his lover from prison, meant to them.
The library holds not only De Profundis but handwritten drafts of several of the Wilde's most famous works, including The Importance of Being Earnest and Lady Windermere's Fan. Dame Carol Black, chair of the British Library, called Wilde "one of the most significant literary figures of the 19th century." She said the act of reissuing his card was meant to not only honor Wilde's memory but also to "acknowledge the injustices and immense suffering he faced as a result of his conviction." His wife fled to Europe with their two sons and Wilde died in poverty in 1900, three years after his release, per the Guardian.
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