Record Number: 29605

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Meeting held at Ashton Lodge, Kendrick Rd., 13.x.32.

Henry M. Wallis in the chair

1. Minutes of last read & approved.

[...]

5. Francis E. Pollard then gave us an account of the life of Scott, interspersed with racy anecdotes. He gave us a lively picture of Scott's romantic outlook & of his keen historical interests.

6. Alfred Rawlings, who is endeared to us among other reasons as the stormy petrel of the Club, next launched an attack upon Scott as a poet, decrying his imperfections and slovenliness.

7. Henry M. Wallis then entertained us with the later work of Scott. Speaking as one wizard of another he almost succeeed in making us believe that he had been Scott's contemporary, & under his spell we caught something of the dazzling popularity of Scott's writings throughout the whole of Europe, and in particular of the cult for the Highlands and the Highlanders which sprang into being from his pen.

8. Towards the end of the evening we heard three readings, the first from Ivanhoe by Charles Stansfield who used the supper scenne in which Friar Tuch entertains the unknown knight, the second from the Heart of Midlothian by Frank Pollard in which Jeannie Deans pleads for her sister's life, & the third from Old Mortality by Rosamund Wallis describing the interrogation and torture inflicted upon the Covenanters.

All three readings held us enthralled, & all three papers aroused the maximum of discussion which a benevolent Chairman and a lenient hostess could allow. The time sped on beyond our usual hours, and as we took our leave we were still talking Scott.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

13 Oct 1932

Country:

England

Time

evening

Place:

city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: Ashton Lodge, Kendrick Road

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

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

Members of the XII Book Club

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Walter Scott

Title:

The Heart of Midlothian

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

29605

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

Victor Alexander

Title:

XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 3 (1931-1938)

Location:

private collection

Call No:

n/a

Page/Folio:

pp. 46-48

Additional Information:

Victor Alexander was secretary to the XII Book Club from 1931 to 1940. It is inferred from this that he was the author of this set of minutes.

Citation:

Victor Alexander, XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 3 (1931-1938), private collection, pp. 46-48, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=29605, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

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).