Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 33551


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'It was a change to spend such a lazy day. We read the Apocrypha, I remember, and wandered a little, but not very far afield, not much further than the spring where we refilled our water bottles [...] we talked with a wandering dervish, who strayed up to our camp carrying a sort of sceptre, surmounted by the extended hand of Ali in shining brass; we listened to a blind man chanting an interminable poem about hazrat-i-isa (his Majesty Jesus); we watched the procession of women going to the spring.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Apr 1926 and 30 Apr 1926

Country:

Persia

Time

daytime

Place:

city: Dehdez
county: Izeh County, Khuzestan Province

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


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Vita Sackville-West

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

9 Mar 1892

Socio-Economic Group:

Royalty / aristocracy

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Persia

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

unknown unknown

Title:

Bible - the Apocrypha

Genre:

Bible, Other religious, Apocrypha

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

33551

Source:

Print

Author:

Vita Sackville-West

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Twelve Days in Persia

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2009

Vol:

n/a

Page:

73

Additional Comments:

Page references are from the 2009 edition published by I.B. Tauris. The book was first published by Hogarth in 1928.

Citation:

Vita Sackville-West, Twelve Days in Persia, (London, 2009), p. 73, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33551, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

Although she uses the plural 'we', it's not clear whether one member of Vita Sackville-West entourage read the Apocrypha out aloud or not (there were 4 other Western travellers with her), or whether they read separate texts silently but at the same time. The 'we' might also refer to reading with her husband Harold Nicolson (one of the trip members).

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design