Record Number: 12851
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
Louis announced that he had written something he wanted us to hear. When we had taken our seats round the centre table he stood before us with a manuscript in his hand...then in his deep voice vibrant with emotion, with heightened colour and blazing eyes he read aloud the 'Father Damien Letter.' Never in my life have I heard anything so dramatic, so magnificent. There was deep feeling in every sentence - scorn, indignation, biting irony, infinite pity - and invective that fairly scorched and sizzled. The tears were in his eyes when he finished. Throwing the manuscript on the table he turned to his wife. She who had never failed him, rose to his feet, and holding out both hands to him in a gesture of enthusiasm, cried: 'Print it! Publish it!'
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between 1 Jan 1890 and 31 May 1890
Country:Australia
Timen/a
Place:city: Sydney, Australia
specific address: Oxford Hotel
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:13 Nov 1850
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Writer
Religion:Church of Scotland
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:Australia
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
Fanny Stevenson (wife); Isobel Field (step-daughter)
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Father Damien, an Open Letter to the Reverend Dr Hyde of Honolulu
Genre:Essays / Criticism
Form of Text:Manuscript: Unknown
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:12851
Source:Isobel Field
Editor:n/a
Title:This Life I've Loved
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1937
Vol:n/a
Page:245
Additional Comments:
Memoir of Stevenson's step-daughter, Isobel Field (previously Strong, nee Osbourne).
Citation:
Isobel Field, This Life I've Loved (London, 1937), p. 245, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=12851, accessed: 23 September 2023
Additional Comments:
'Father Damien, an Open Letter to the Reverend Dr. Hyde of Honolulu' was privately printed by Stevenson in May 1890