Evidence: | Meeting held at Oakdene, Northcourt Av, 20.3.34. Sylvanus A. Reynolds in the Chair. 1. Minutes of last read and approved, in the teeth of one dissident.
5. We then proceeded to the anonymous essays and members felt on excellent terms with themselves at the prospect of hearing some attractive reading and of eluding or inflicting a good hoax or two. The first essay opened discreetly without title on the theme of “Newcomers to Reading”, going on to a description of the neighbourhood, its beauties its quaint place names and historical associations. […] 6. Next came a paper on “Uniforms”. The writer was considered by one or two to show the observation of the masculine mind and the style of the feminine. […] 7. Then came a letter to "My dear Twelve" written with the unmistakeable touch of the practised writer. […] 8. We listened, too, with equal interest to a paper called “Canaries”, telling us something of the progress and perambulations of our latest migrant members. Moreover two or three of our number were able to follow their doings with particular appreciation, having mad much the same trip themselves. […] 9. All of us were a good deal non plussed by “Hors d’Oeuvres”, an essay not inappropriately named, for it contained a perplexing mixture of fare, and certainly stimulated our appetite. […] 10. Hardly less difficult was “Glastonbury”. Many of us had visited it, and so were able to follow closely the author’s points. But few of us knew enough of its history and legend to be sure whether or no our one professional historian had set his wits before us. So we gave up reasoning and just guessed. […] 11. Finally we heard “Spoonbill”. It was a noteworthy paper, combining the love of the naturalist for the birds he watches with the craft of the writer in the language he uses. […] 12. Here is the complete list. — “Newcomers to Reading” by H. R. Smith, read by F. E. Pollard |
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Century: | 1900-1945 | ||||||||||
Date: | 20 Mar 1934 | ||||||||||
Country: | England | ||||||||||
Time: | evening | ||||||||||
Place: | city: Reading county: Berkshire specific address: Oakdene, Northcourt Avenue |
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Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | Francis E. Pollard |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 1872 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | Formerly schoolmaster, now occasional lecturer and supply teacher, and supported also by wife's unearned income |
Religion: | Quaker or associated with the Friends |
Country of origin: | n/a |
Country of experience: | England |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
Members of the XII Book Club |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | Howard Smith |
Title: | Newcomers to Reading |
Genre: | Essays / Criticism, Geography / Travel |
Form of Text: | Manuscript: Unknown |
Publication details: | n/a |
Provenance: | borrowed (other) |
Record ID: | 29727 | |
Source - | Manuscript | |
Author: | Victor Alexander | |
Title: | XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 3 (1931-1938) | |
Location: | private collection | |
Call no: | n/a | |
Page/folio: | 95–99 |
Citation: | Victor Alexander, XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 3 (1931-1938) private collection, p. 95–99, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=29727, accessed: 22 September 2023 |
Material by kind permission of the XII Book Club. For further information and permission to quote this source, contact the Reading Experience Database (http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/contacts.php). |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)