The British Library has posthumously restored the library card of Irish writer Oscar Wilde, more than a century after it was revoked in the wake of his 1895 conviction for “gross indecency.” The symbolic gesture, described as an acknowledgement of “the injustices and immense suffering” Wilde endured, was made official at a ceremony in London marking what would have been his 171st birthday.

Wilde’s only grandson, author Merlin Holland, accepted the new pass on his behalf, calling the decision “a lovely gesture of forgiveness.” The event also coincided with the launch of Holland’s new book After Oscar, which explores the enduring impact of his grandfather’s life and work.

The revocation of Oscar Wilde’s library card, then for the British Museum Reading Room, was recorded in the trustees’ minutes on 15 June 1895, shortly after he began serving a two-year sentence of hard labour. At the time, the library’s regulations required the exclusion of anyone convicted of a crime. Wilde’s imprisonment followed his failed libel suit against the Marquess of Queensberry, who had accused him of being homosexual after learning of his relationship with Lord Alfred Douglas, known as Bosie.

“Had he known about the revocation,” Holland reflected, “it would have just added to his misery to feel that one of the world’s great libraries had banned him, just as the law had banned him from daily life.”

The British Library today houses an extraordinary collection of Wilde’s manuscripts, including drafts of The Importance of Being Earnest, An Ideal Husband, A Woman of No Importance, and Lady Windermere’s Fan. Among its treasures is De Profundis, the searing letter Wilde wrote from Reading Gaol to Douglas, reflecting on love, loss, and redemption.

Carol Black, chair of the British Library Board, said: “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”

For many in the LGBTQ+ community, the reinstatement represents more than symbolic justice but a reminder of how far society has come in reclaiming voices once silenced by prejudice. As Wilde himself wrote, “The truth is rarely pure and never simple.” This restoration, at last, gives truth a tangible place in history.