Record Number: 20556

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

E. M. Forster to Laura Mary Forster (aunt), 1 January 1917: 'For the last hour I have occupied myself with copying extracts into my "War Anthology" [...] I have put in "your" Milton passage and next to it a passage from Pater -- that in which he describes the longings of Marcus Aurelius for the Ideal City [...] (The passage is in Marius the Epicurean -- at the end of the chapter called Urbs Beata) [...] It is somehow very tranquil to copy out passages such as these, and the very labour of writing seems to bring one nearer to those who wrote them in the past.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

1 Jan 1917

Country:

Egypt

Time

evening

Place:

city: Alexandria

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

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Edward Morgan Forster

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1 Jan 1879

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer/Red Cross worker

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Egypt

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

John Milton

Title:

n/a

Genre:

n/a

Form of Text:

Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

20556

Source:

Print

Author:

E. M. Forster

Editor:

Mary Lago and P. N. Furbank

Title:

Selected Letters of E. M. Forster

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1983

Vol:

1

Page:

248-249

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

E. M. Forster, Mary Lago and P. N. Furbank (ed.), Selected Letters of E. M. Forster, (London, 1983), 1, p. 248-249, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20556, accessed: 13 March 2025

---

Additional Comments:

None