Oscar Wilde first hanging at Reading in 18 years. From Wooldridge's hanging, Wilde later wrote "The Ballad of Reading Gaol". Wilde was not, at first, even allowed paper and pen but Haldane eventually succeeded in allowing access to books and writing materials. Wilde requested, among others: the Bible in French; Italian and German grammars; some Ancient Greek texts, Dante's "Divine Comedy", Joris-Karl Huysmans's new French novel about Christian redemption "En Route", and essays by St Augustine, Cardinal Newman and Walter Pater. Between January and March 1897 Wilde wrote a 50,000-word letter to Douglas. He was not allowed to send it, but was
Biographies of Oscar Wilde Biographies of Oscar Wilde Oscar Wilde's colourful life and disappointing end have made him a continual fascination for biographers, beginning soon after his death by people known to him. Lord Alfred Douglas wrote two books about his relationship with Wilde: "Oscar Wilde and Myself" (1914), largely ghost-written by T.W.H. Crosland, vindictively reacted to Douglas's discovery that "De Profundis" was addressed to him and defensively tried to distance him from Wilde's scandalous reputation. Both authors later regretted their work. Later, in "Oscar Wilde:A Summing Up" (1940) and his "Autobiography" he was more sympathetic to Wilde. An account of the argument between