Skip to content

 
 
 
 

Record Number: 31703

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Meeting held at 22 Cintra Avenue: 17. IV 40. F. E. Pollard in the chair
1. Minutes of last read & approved.
[...]
5. As an introduction to our subject of Modern English Humourists, R. H. Robson read a passage analysing the nature of Humour. Discussion followed on the distinction, if any, between wit & humour, & various alleged examples were forthcoming.
6. A. B. Dilks read from Grossmith�s Diary of a Nobody; many entries appealed to members as characteristic of themselves or their friends.
7. In the regretted absence of C. E. Stansfield, F. E. Pollard read T. Thompson�s Blitzkrieg, from the Manchester Guardian, in what purported to be the Lancashire dialect.
8 Howard R. Smith read from A. A. Milne: the reader shared fully in the mirth of the hearers.
9. M. Dilks gave us a passage from Macdonnell�s �England, their England�, which must have been salutary for any suffering from insular complacency.
10. Rosamund Wallis� contribution was from P. G. Wodehouse�s �Carry on, Jeeves�; certain methods of being off with the old love & on with the new were characteristically indicated by the writer, effectively rendered by the reader, & clearly appreciated by the company.
11. R. H. Robson�s Saki story supplied further satire on English standards � in this case of music, & the services likely to secure a title.
12. The chapter from Barrie�s �Window in Thrums�, read by F. E. Pollard, told how Gavin Birse did his best to be off with the old love, but failed.
13. The idea of a Barrie evening was mooted.
[signed as a true record:] M. Stevens
18-7-40'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

17 Apr 1940

Country:

England

Time

evening

Place:

city: Reading
county: Berkshire
specific address: 22, Cintra Avenue

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:

Francis E. Pollard

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1872

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Formerly schoolmaster, now occasional lecturer and supply teacher, and supported also by wife's unearned income

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:

J. M. Barrie

Title:

A Window in Thrums

Genre:

Fiction, Humour

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

31703

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

n/a

Title:

XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943)

Location:

private collection

Call No:

n/a

Page/Folio:

64�6

Additional Information:

n/a

Citation:

[unidentified acting secretary of the XII Book Club] , XII Book Club Minute Book, Vol. 4 (1938-1943), private collection, 64�6, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=31703, accessed: 03 February 2026

---

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).