Record Number: 32944

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

‘[ … ]they have made me billet warden, which sounds grand, and is grand; as it leaves me time and enough to spare for reading. No new books can come to me now, as my finances have dwindled down to 20 centimes; 2d, quatre sous. No Petit Journal or Telegramme (the local authority) after today. However, when I was in the full tide of opulence with ten francs, I chanced on a little bookshop with little 10 and 15 centime editions of Moliere, De Vigny, Voltaire, etc. … I am just enjoying "Prometheus Bound" in a French Translation; in prose—an excellent way to read Greek masterpieces, if only the translation is faithful. Aeschylus is certainly a person of great power; but what is Prometheus a symbol of? Tell me if you can. Is it a forerunner of the Christ idea?’

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 16 Aug 1916 and 13 Sep 1916

Country:

France

Time

n/a

Place:

city
county: Pas-de-Calais
Casualty clearing station or 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

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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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Aeschylus

Title:

Prométhée (or Prométheus) enchaîné

Genre:

Classics, Drama

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

In French translation

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32944

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:

142

Additional Comments:

Letter to Marion Scott, violinist and musicologist, September 1916, from unspecified location (Casualty Clearing Station)

Citation:

Ivor Gurney, R. K. R. Thornton (ed.), Ivor Gurney: Collected Letters, (Manchester, 1991), p. 142, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32944, accessed: 25 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

None