IT IS probably the most famous poem ever written about prison – by a prisoner. A rare copy of a first edition of Oscar Wilde's The Ballad of Reading Gaol, first published in 1898, sold at Christie's books and manuscripts auction in London on Wednesday for £16,250 (£8,000-£12,000).

Wilde wrote the poem in exile in France after serving two years hard labour for gross indecency. It was not known until a few years later that Wilde was the author of the poem, published under the pseudonym C. 3.3. (Cell block C, landing 3, cell 3. ). The first edition had a print run of 830 copies. The example sold is believed to one of only 20 inscribed copies and was given by Wilde to a friend, architect John Rowland Fothergill.