The British Library is set to symbolically restore Oscar Wilde’s reader pass, a move occurring 130 years after it was annulled following his conviction for gross indecency.
A new pass with Wilde’s name will be presented to his grandson, Merlin Holland, during a special event in October, as revealed on Sunday.
Rupert Everett, who penned, directed, and starred as Wilde in The Happy Prince, a critically acclaimed film about the writer’s sorrowful later years in exile, will partake in the ceremony.
Holland, a scholar on Wilde and author of The Complete Letters of Oscar Wilde, expressed that his grandfather would likely respond to the restoration with a quip, saying, “He’d probably say, ‘About time too.’”
The decision to revoke Wilde’s pass was recorded in 1895, when homosexuality was illegal: “The Trustees directed that Mr Oscar Wilde, admitted as a reader in 1879, who was sentenced at the Central Criminal Court on 25th May to two years’ imprisonment with hard labour, be excluded from future use of the Museum’s Reading Room.”
Wilde’s plight began after he sued Lord Queensberry, who accused him of being a “sodomite” upon discovering his relationship with Lord Alfred “Bosie” Douglas, leading to Wilde’s imprisonment.
Once celebrated in London society, Wilde died in poverty in Paris in 1900 at the age of 46. After his downfall, his wife, Constance, fled to Europe with their two sons, changing their surname to Holland, an inherited family name.
Reflecting on the revocation of the pass, Holland noted that Wilde had been in Pentonville Prison for three weeks when it was cancelled. He mused that Wilde probably did not know about it, stating, “It would have only added to his misery to feel that one of the world’s great libraries had prohibited him from accessing books, just as the law had restricted his daily existence. However, the restoration of his pass is a beautiful gesture of forgiveness, and I believe it will resonate with his spirit.”
In 2017, Wilde was included among over 50,000 gay and bisexual men who received posthumous pardons, although the Ministry of Justice did not specify any individual cases.
Holland remarked that Wilde did not believe there was anything wrong with same-sex love. He expressed uncertainty about Wilde being pardoned and concluded, “If I needed to request a pardon, I wouldn’t, as it would merely serve to comfort the British establishment. History is history, and we cannot rewrite it.”
The British Library is home to what is arguably the world’s most significant collection of Wilde manuscripts, including drafts of his major works such as Lady Windermere’s Fan, A Woman of No Importance, An Ideal Husband, and The Importance of Being Earnest.
Laura Walker, the Library’s lead curator of modern archives and manuscripts, highlighted that this extraordinary collection makes Wilde’s pass all the more significant: “We aim to honour Wilde now and acknowledge the injustices he faced. Section 11 of the law that criminalised homosexuality was unequivocally unjust.”
The British Library separated from the British Museum in 1973 but continued to operate in the Reading Room until its new building opened in St Pancras in 1997.
Wilde’s relationship with the British Museum dates back to his student days. After moving to London in 1879, he applied for a reader pass, though he was not shy about critiquing the institution. Regarding his poem The Sphinx, which he published in limited copies, he once quipped that he intended to print only three copies: one for himself, one for the British Museum, and one for Heaven, humorously questioning the need for the Museum’s copy.
Holland added that Wilde’s remarks showcased his characteristic wit, remarking that Wilde would likely feel compelled to apologise for his previous jibe once his pass was reinstated.
The British Library event, scheduled for 16 October, which is also Wilde’s birthday, will feature a public discussion with Everett and Holland, launching Holland’s new book, After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal, which chronicles Wilde’s life after death.
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