Record Number: 33643

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

He [M. Besse] took me and Mrs Ingrams for a longish walk yesterday, over the crater edge and down to the sea...M. Besse and I bathed regardless of the sharks, of which he denies the existence in these particular bays, though there seem to be two opinions about it. It was delicious in the buoyant water, just cool enough to be pleasant, with the sun sinking into it over the spires of Little Aden. Then we came back and he read Monna Vanna out to us and so to bed, and this morning, alas, I am packing.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

7 Jan 1935

Country:

Yemen

Time

evening
night

Place:

city: Aden
county: Yemen

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:

Listener:

Freya Stark

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

31 Jan 1893

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Travel writer

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Yemen

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Maurice Maeterlinck

Title:

Monna Vanna

Genre:

Drama, History, Politics

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown
Likely read aloud in French rather than in English translation

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Source Information:

Record ID:

33643

Source:

Print

Author:

Freya Stark

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Coast of Incense: Autobiography, 1933-1939

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1953

Vol:

n/a

Page:

54

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Freya Stark, The Coast of Incense: Autobiography, 1933-1939, (London, 1953), p. 54, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33643, accessed: 16 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Sir Antonin Besse (1877-1951) was a French merchant resident in Yemen who would later found St Anthony's College in Oxford. Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 Jan 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. This reading experience took place in Aden. It is unclear who else was present as a listener (possibly Doreen Ingrams).