Record Number: 33056
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
�Many thanks for your letter which greeted me on our weekly return to our old farmhouse behind the lines � I�m sending herewith�it strikes me it may interest you�a copy of "The Imitation of Christ" in Flemish. Two days ago we blew up an old half-ruined estaminet just in front of our trenches � In consolidating the position and digging it in, I found among other things this book in the cellar � on the top of a barrel still half-full of beer � with some French recipes inside � Anyhow, there was a�well, decomposed body in that estaminet, who may have written this recipe and read his Thomas a Kempis with diligence daily. Or more likely �twas a German body; and the canny publican and his wife had fled at the first approach of the Germans, leaving their Imitation and�much more wonderful�their recipes behind them. In any case it will answer for my contribution to the reigning passion for souvenirs; and your professional opinion may agree that it is quite a nice binding�for Belgium! � I do not insist that you should read this book I�m sending.�
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 9 Aug 1915 and 17 Aug 1915
Country:Belgium
Timedaytime
Place:city: Ploegsteert
county: Hainault
other location: trenches
(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:19 May 1895
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:First Lieutenant, 7th Suffolk Regiment
Religion:Agnostic
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:Belgium
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:De imitatione Christi
Genre:Other religious
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
ProvenanceFound
Source Information:
Record ID:33056
Source:Charles Hamilton Sorley
Editor:Jean Moorcroft Wilson
Title:The Collected Letters of Charles Hamilton Sorley
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1990
Vol:n/a
Page:250-1
Additional Comments:
To Miss Mary Sorley 17 August 1915 [Belgium, near Ypres]. Sorley was probably by this time at Ploegsteert, near Ypres
Citation:
Charles Hamilton Sorley, Jean Moorcroft Wilson (ed.), The Collected Letters of Charles Hamilton Sorley, (London, 1990), p. 250-1, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33056, accessed: 21 March 2026
Additional Comments:
This is a very transient 'reading' experience since Sorley did not read Dutch/Flemish, but as an engagement with a material text it qualifies for inclusion in RED.
