De Profundis was written.
De Profundis ( Latin : `` from the depths '' ) is a letter written by Oscar Wilde during his imprisonment in Reading Gaol , to `` Bosie '' ( Lord Alfred Douglas ) . He was not allowed to send the long letter which he was allowed to write `` for medicinal purposes '' ; each page was taken away when completed , and only at the end could he read it over and make revisions . It was an incomplete version , excised of its autobiographical elements and references to the Queensberry family ; various editions gave more text until in 1962 the complete and correct version appeared in a volume of Wilde 's letters .