British Library reissues Oscar Wilde reader pass to mark Pride Month

Merlin Holland, the grandson of Irish writer Oscar Wilde, accepted a reissued British Library reader pass on Thursday in London, symbolically restoring a privilege revoked 130 years ago after Wilde was convicted of gross indecency. The library said the gesture was intended to honour Wilde’s legacy and to acknowledge the injustices he suffered following his 1895 trial and imprisonment.

The original revocation was recorded in the trustees minutes of June 15, 1895, when the institution then known as the British Museum Reading Room removed Wilde’s access after he was sentenced to two years with hard labour. Wilde’s conviction followed a widely reported libel case in which elements of his private life were made public; sexual relations between men were criminal offences in Britain at the time. The British Library said it announced the reissue to coincide with Pride Month and presented the contemporary pass, bearing Wilde’s name and photograph, at an event that also marked the launch of Holland’s new biography, After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal.

Holland welcomed the restitution, saying the gesture was “a lovely gesture of forgiveness” and that he was “sure his spirit will be...