Record Number: 20321

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'There was Hamish, confirmed practical joker, who donned stage make-up and a false beard and, pretending serious research, persuaded a member of the Bodleian staff to bring him John Wilkes's "Essay on Woman" - a work so scandalous that it was on the restricted access list - and copied it out for [itaklics] zamizdat [end italics] circulation among a select few: "Awake my Fanny, leave all meaner things, This morn shall show what rapture swiving brings..." I accepted a copy, on several sheets of smudged carbon, and for many weeks hid it in the lining of my trunk, expecting that at any moment, in some fateful fashion, the sin would proclaim itself'.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

From: 1 Oct 1939

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Oxford
specific address: Bodleian Library

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Hamish

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Unknown/NA

Occupation:

n/a

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

n/a

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a

Additional Comments:

friend of Ralph Glasser

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Text Being Read:

Author:

John Wilkes

Title:

Essay on Woman

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

read in situ

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Source Information:

Record ID:

20321

Source:

Print

Author:

Ralph Glasser

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Gorbals Boy at Oxford

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1988

Vol:

n/a

Page:

11-12

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Ralph Glasser, Gorbals Boy at Oxford (London, 1988), p. 11-12, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=20321, accessed: 26 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

None