Record Number: 32424
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
(1) '... you simply must read this book of Maeterlinck's on death. It is full of the most interesting stuff, and even when you don't believe his theories they always have a sort of romantic interest. One case he tells of reminds me of "John Silence", it is so weird: but I mustn't spoil it by outline.' (2) 'By the way Maeterlinck's book on Death is in the usual horrid, expensive continental paper back - still this gives you the exciting task of getting it bound.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 26 Jan 1917 and 14 Feb 1917
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:29 Nov 1898
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Student
Religion:Church of England
Country of Origin:Northern Ireland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:La Mort
Genre:Other religious, Essays / Criticism, Astrology / alchemy / occult, Theories of survival after death
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsPossibly Bibliotheque Charpentier, Paris, 1913
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:32424
Source:C. S. Lewis
Editor:Walter Hooper
Title:C. S. Lewis Collected Letters
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:2000
Vol:1
Page:270, 274
Additional Comments:
(1) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 31 January 1917 (2) From a letter to the same, 7 February 1917 'John Silence' by Algernon Blackwood, is a series of ghost stories about a psychic detective.
Citation:
C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 270, 274, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32424, accessed: 18 May 2024
Additional Comments:
An extended version of 'La Mort' was published in English in 1913, translated by Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, and called 'Our Eternity'. In his introduction, de Mattos says that 'La Mort' was first published in 1911, but 1913 is the earliest date I can find in the British Library catalogue. I cannot find a French edition of the exact collection of essays which comprise 'Our Eternity'. Lewis was reading Maeterlinck in French; he does not give the precise title of the book, but I think it must have been 'La Mort'.