Record Number: 29721
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Meeting held at School House, Leighton Park, 16.I.34.
Francis E. Pollard in the chair
1. The Chairman offered the Club’s greetings to our new members, though only one of them
was able to be present.
2. We much regretted the absence of George and Celia Burrow on account of the former’s
illness, and of Mary Pollard who had gone to see Caroline in Birmingham where she had had
the bad luck to come in for a motoring accident.
3. Minutes of last were then read and approved.
[...]
7. The subject for the evening then claimed our attention, & Charles Stansfield read us a paper
on Lewis Carroll’s life. It contained much material that was new to most of us, and was so &
absorbingly retailed that the Secretary completely omitted to take notes on it
8. This was followed by extracts from his letters read to us by Dorothy Brain. She chose them
all, I think, from letters to little girls thus wisely focussing our interest upon the author &
making him very real behind his nom de plume.
9. After the interval Dorothy Brain’s players—Frank Pollard, Janet Rawlings, Reginald Robson &
Victor Alexander performed an unrehearsed tea party. Whether the performance was comic,
gruesome or grotesque I would not venture to suggest. To one actor, unseeing and unseen
beneath his mask it was a little like a cross between a modernist nightmare & old-fasioned
blind man’s buff.
10. Readings were then given by
Ethel C. Stevens : from Alice through the Looking Glass
Howard R. Smith : [from] Sylvie and Bruno
Francis E. Pollard : [from] the Hunting of the Snark
C. E. Stansfield : [from] Hiawatha’s Photographing
11. It was decided to have a subscription of 6/- for the current year.'
1900-1945
Date:16 Jan 1934
Country:England
Timeevening
Place:city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: School House, Leighton Park
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:1880
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:n/a
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
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Sylvie and Bruno
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:29721
Source:Manuscript
Author:Victor Alexander
Title:XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 3 (1931-1938)
Location:private collection
Call No:n/a
Page/Folio:84–7
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, 84–7, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=29721, accessed: 17 August 2024
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).