The London Library On this day in 1897 - exactly 120 years ago - Oscar Wilde was released from Reading Gaol. He emerged with his health and reputation ruined and he died three years later aged 46. Towards the end of his prison sentence Wilde wrote a 50,000-word letter to his beloved Lord Alfred Douglas ("Bosie"), chronicling his despair and suffering and reflecting on the ruinous journey his life had taken. He was not allowed to send it, but the prison governor handed it back to him upon his release. Wilde gave the manuscript to his publisher Robbie Ross and the greater part of it was published posthumously as de Profundis in 1905, with this being one of the first editions published that year. The Ballad of Reading Gaol - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ballad_of_Reading_Gaol "The Ballad of Reading Gaol" is a poem by Oscar Wilde, written in exile i