British Library to reinstate Oscar Wilde’s reader card 130 years after it was revoked

Papers from May 1889 to April 1896 show the decision by trustees to exclude Oscar Wilde from the British Museum’s Reading Room. Photograph: The Trustees of the British Museum

The British Library is to symbolically reinstate Oscar Wilde’s reader pass, 130 years after its trustees cancelled it following his conviction for gross indecency.

A contemporary pass bearing the name of the Irish author and playwright will be officially presented to his grandson, Merlin Holland, at an event in October, it will be announced on Sunday.