Overview
- The British Library presented a reissued reader card in Wilde’s name to his grandson, Merlin Holland, at an Oct. 16 ceremony marking what would have been Wilde’s 171st birthday.
- The event doubled as the launch of Holland’s book After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal and featured participation by actor-writer Rupert Everett.
- Dame Carol Black, chair of the library’s trustees, said the move seeks to honor Wilde’s memory and recognize the suffering caused by his conviction.
- Trustees of the British Museum, the library’s predecessor, recorded the original revocation on June 15, 1895, weeks after Wilde received a two-year sentence for “gross indecency.”
- The library underscored its custodial role in Wilde’s legacy, noting holdings such as drafts of major plays and the De Profundis manuscript, while framing the act as part of a broader cultural reassessment of past discrimination.