A major UK library has honoured deceased Irish writer Oscar Wilde by issuing anew a reader's card in his name, 130 years after his original got cancelled following his conviction for homosexual acts.
The renowned author and dramatist was excluded from the institution's study area in 1895 over his prosecution for having had homosexual relationships, which was a criminal offence at the time.
The new card, which will be received by his descendant, writer Merlin Holland, on Thursday, is intended to "acknowledge the injustices and immense suffering" the writer endured, the library said.
Mr Holland said the new card is a "beautiful act of reconciliation" and "I believe his memory will be honored and pleased".
The decision to withdraw the author's access for the library - then the London institution - was documented without explanation in the trustees' minutes for June 15, 1895.
He had been in jail for several weeks at the time after being given a lengthy jail term with manual labor.
Wilde was found guilty after he lost a libel trial against the Marquess of Queensberry, who had accused him of being gay after discovering that his son, Lord Alfred Douglas, was Wilde's lover.
Institutional rules at the time said any person found guilty of a crime should have their card revoked.
'Letter from prison meant so much'
The national library contains original manuscripts of some of the author's most well-known works including The Importance of Being Ernest, An Ideal Husband, "A Woman of No Importance" and Lady Windermere's Fan.
The archive also includes the letter "De Profundis", the correspondence he wrote to Lord Alfred Douglas from Reading Gaol.
Merlin Holland, the only living descendant of Wilde, will receive the reissued pass at a event at the location on what would have been his grandfather's 171st birthday.
Speaking on the occasion, the grandson said he felt both "proud" of his relative and slightly burdened by the duty of handling his legacy.
"People will so often write in to me and say, 'I cannot tell you how much your grandfather's De Profundis meant to me'" he stated.
"The letter ends on an optimistic tone... expressing his intent to resume his work after release".
"Readers have expressed, 'During deep personal despair, I turned to De Profundis, and your relative's jail writings provided immense comfort'".
The library chair, chair of the British Library, described the author as "a foremost 19th-century literary personality".
She said that by reissuing his reader pass, "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".
She continued that they were "pleased" to receive his grandson - who is the author of a new book, After Oscar: The Legacy of a Scandal - to accept the pass on his behalf.
