Record Number: 32943

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

‘Today is changeable, rather cold and windy … I hardly think of music at all, but stick to books. My friend Harvey, who is now a lootenant [sic] in this battalion has just lent me the "Spirit of Man"; and I am now browsing therein. Masefield is quite right. “Life is too wonderful to end”, and the better part of me is on fire adequately to praise it before I go.’

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

16 Aug 1916

Country:

France

Time

n/a

Place:

city: La Gorgue
county: Nord
billets

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:

Ivor Bertie Gurney

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

28 Aug 1890

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Private, Gloucestershire Regiment

Religion:

Christian (Anglican)

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

France

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Robert Bridges

Title:

The Spirit of Man

Genre:

Poetry, Philosophy, Miscellany / Anthology

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (other)

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

32943

Source:

Print

Author:

Ivor Gurney

Editor:

R. K. R. Thornton

Title:

Ivor Gurney: Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

Manchester

Date of Publication:

1991

Vol:

n/a

Page:

134

Additional Comments:

Letter to Marion Scott, violinist and musicologist, 16 August 1916, from La Gorgue

Citation:

Ivor Gurney, R. K. R. Thornton (ed.), Ivor Gurney: Collected Letters, (Manchester, 1991), p. 134, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32943, accessed: 24 April 2024

---

Additional Comments:

None