Record Number: 30109

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Meeting held at Whinfell, Upper Redlands Rd. 23.10.’37

Alfred Rawlings in the Chair

1. The Secretary asked permission to reserve the reading of some of the minutes until after the literary part of the programme had been taken, as these minutes would bear directly upon the discussion which would necessarily follow as to the future of the Club. This permission was given and the other minutes were then read and approved.

2. Victor Alexander then gave a brief account of the career of William Fryer Harvey, followed by an appreciation and review of “We were Seven” which he had previously written for the Bootham Magazine.

3. Helen Rawlings read several of Harvey’s poems from the volume “Laughter and Ghosts[”].

4. Elizabeth T. Alexander read a chapter from “Caprimulgus”.

5. Frank Pollard read “August Heat” from Midnight House.

6. Janet Rawlings read “Patience” from Quaker Byways.

7. Charles E. Stansfield read two more poems from “Laughter and Ghosts”

8. Howard R. Smith read “The Tortoise” from Midnight House.

9. The Secretary then read the minutes referring to last time’s discussion on the Club’s future, and also two letters of resignation. These were from Edgar and Mignon Castle and from Dorothy Brain.

10. Discussion then followed.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

23 Oct 1937

Country:

England

Time

evening

Place:

city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: Whinfell, Upper Redlands 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

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Howard Smith

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:

William Fryer Harvey

Title:

The Tortoise

Genre:

Fiction, Children's Lit

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

William Fryer Harvey, Midnight House, and other tales (London: J. M. Dent & Sons, 1910).

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

30109

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

Victor Alexander

Title:

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

Location:

private collection

Call No:

n/a

Page/Folio:

194–8

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, 194–8, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=30109, accessed: 22 November 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).