Record Number: 32926
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
�Your book�my book [Davies, "Child Lovers"] has just arrived, and it is finished. Only to increasing certainty that Davies was once an exquisite poet�of which time he has now but occasional memories, and that he knows himself to be failing in power and is bitter at the knowledge. I happen to know it is true, from private information, but anyone who knows his earlier work must feel sad � Thank you very much for such a charming present � Thank you also for sending me the "Times Literary Supplement", but I have one sent already. However both are passed on, and read with enthusiasm by one and another � I might be a good soldier if I could forget music and books. Indeed I try to full my still-sick mind with thoughts of these. Which makes a strange combination, as you may imagine.�
Century:1900-1945
Date:12 Jun 1916
Country:France
Timedaytime
Place:city: Laventie
county: Pas-de-Calais
other location: billets
(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: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
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Child Lovers
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:32926
Source:Ivor Gurney
Editor:R. K. R. Thornton
Title:Ivor Gurney: Collected Letters
Place of Publication:Manchester
Date of Publication:1991
Vol:n/a
Page:102
Additional Comments:
Letter to Marion Scott, 21 June 1916, from billets at Laventie.
Citation:
Ivor Gurney, R. K. R. Thornton (ed.), Ivor Gurney: Collected Letters, (Manchester, 1991), p. 102, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32926, accessed: 21 March 2026
Additional Comments:
None
