Record Number: 21352

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'O when we woke in London docks, the first steamer I saw go past was the "Charles", and the next the "Cygnet": I was afraid to look any more, I felt so eerie; but of course I [italics]know[end italics] the third was the "Baxter".'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Until: 28 Jul 1875

Country:

England

Time

morning

Place:

city: LONDON
specific address: Docks in London

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:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

13 Nov 1850

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer.

Religion:

Uncommitted

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Title:

n/a

Genre:

Two painted ships' names.

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Letter, Painted (or stencilled?) on ships' sides.

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

read in situ
Seen from another boat in London docks.

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21352

Source:

Print

Author:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Editor:

Bradford A. Booth

Title:

The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879

Place of Publication:

New Haven and London

Date of Publication:

1994

Vol:

2

Page:

154

Additional Comments:

Letter 407, To Charles Baxter, [28 July 1875], Savile Club. Co-editor Ernest Mehew. The material in square brackets has been added by the editors.

Citation:

Robert Louis Stevenson, Bradford A. Booth (ed.), The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879, (New Haven and London, 1994), 2, p. 154, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21352, accessed: 27 September 2024

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Additional Comments:

Charles Baxter (1848-1919) was (or was to become?) a Writer to the Signet. (The Society of Writers to Her Majesty’s Signet is a private society of Scottish solicitors and the oldest legal society in the world). Apparently a punning mental connection Cygnet/Signet raised in RLS the fanciful or pretented expectation of seeing a third ship’s name (Baxter) making a third reference to his friend’s attributes.