Record Number: 21813

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I comforted myself last night when I couldn't sleep, by reading those truly wonderful passages about the shells and sea -nymphs in Sacred and Profane Love. What miraculous beauty.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

23 Dec 1940

Country:

England

Time

n/anight

Place:

specific address: Renishaw Hall, Renishaw, Yorkshire

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:

Edith Sitwell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

7 Sep 1887

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Poet

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Sacheverall Sitwell

Title:

Sacred and Profane Love

Genre:

Autobiog / Diary, Philosophy, Miscellany / Anthology, See additional comments.

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1940

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21813

Source:

Print

Author:

Edith Sitwell

Editor:

Richard Greene

Title:

Selected Letters of Edith Sitwell

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1998

Vol:

n/a

Page:

212

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Edith Sitwell, Richard Greene (ed.), Selected Letters of Edith Sitwell, (London, 1998), p. 212, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21813, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

This is an extract fom a letter to Sacheverall Sitwell dated Christmas Eve 1940 at a time of air raids and a pending law case (libel). Sacheverall described Sacred and Profane Love as the first of his 'travel books of the spirit, explorations in the main of art and artists and reflections that arise from these aesthetic journeys'.