Record Number: 21811
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I cannot tell you with what delight I found your lovely history of Alexandria, and your most kind letter, awaiting me when I returned here on Thursday. ( I was delayed in London)the book has a beauty that makes one feel calmed -(at the moment I am reading the section on literature) as one feels calmed when looking at certain statues and listening to certain music. I am deeply grateful to you for sending it to me, and am proud to have it inscribed in your handwriting. I wish you could know what pleasure I feel in reading this book. Whilst I was in London, I found people tearing about, and declaring they could read nothing but newspapers. What a strange way of trying to retain one's sanity! For myself, I have been reading Nashe's Lenten Stuffe, and now I am reading Alexandria.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:1 Sep 1939
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:specific address: Renishaw Hall, Renishaw, Yorkshire
Type of Experience(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:Female
Date of Birth:7 Sep 1887
Socio-Economic Group:Gentry
Occupation:Poet
Religion:Christian
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Alexandria: A History and Guide
Genre:History, Geography / Travel
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Details1938 2nd edition London ( First published 1922)
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:21811
Source:Edith Sitwell
Editor:Richard Greene
Title:Selected Letters of Edith Sitwell
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1998
Vol:n/a
Page:212
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Edith Sitwell, Richard Greene (ed.), Selected Letters of Edith Sitwell (London, 1998), p. 212, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=21811, accessed: 18 April 2024
Additional Comments:
This is an extract from a letter to EM Forster dated 1st October 1939. Edith also refers to meeting EM Forster at the London Library 'the other day' and to tell him that she is sending him separately a copy of her own book "I Live Under a Black Sun" which she begs him to believe is not a novel but an allegory.
