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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 33642


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

He [M. Besse] took me and Mrs Ingrams for a longish walk yesterday, over the crater edge and down to the sea...M. Besse and I bathed regardless of the sharks, of which he denies the existence in these particular bays, though there seem to be two opinions about it. It was delicious in the buoyant water, just cool enough to be pleasant, with the sun sinking into it over the spires of Little Aden. Then we came back and he read Monna Vanna out to us and so to bed, and this morning, alas, I am packing.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

7 Jan 1935

Country:

Yemen

Time

evening
night

Place:

city: Aden
county: Yemen

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:

Antonin Besse

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

26 Jun 1877

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Merchant

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

France

Country of Experience:

Yemen

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Maurice Maeterlinck

Title:

Monna Vanna

Genre:

Drama, History, Politics

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown
Likely read aloud in French rather than in English translation


Source Information:

Record ID:

33642

Source:

Print

Author:

Freya Stark

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Coast of Incense: Autobiography, 1933-1939

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1953

Vol:

n/a

Page:

54

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Freya Stark, The Coast of Incense: Autobiography, 1933-1939, (London, 1953), p. 54, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33642, accessed: 12 November 2024


Additional Comments:

Sir Antonin Besse (1877-1951) was a French merchant resident in Yemen who would later found St Anthony's College in Oxford. Dame Freya Madeline Stark (31 Jan 1893 - 9 May 1993) was a British explorer and travel writer. This reading experience took place in Aden. It is unclear who else was present as a listener (possibly Doreen Ingrams).

   
   
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