This week we have something a little different: a short clip of newsreel footage of Chesterton, followed by a series of excerpts from extant audio recordings of him speaking. The first audio clip was recorded in December 1930 at Holy Cross College in Worcester, Mass during an American tour, the second comes from a radio address on the BBC, the third from a dinner speech he delivered in Canada sometime in the 1930s, and the fourth is an excerpt of a BBC radio address on the subject of architecture [*]. Enjoy!
My thanks to YouTube member gmdinformation for making these clips available.
[*] The architecture talk can be heard at greater length here.
Many thanks for this handy collection and the enhancements you added. Now when I read Chesterton, I can hear that marvelous classical English voice talking to me.
–Mike Perry, editor of Chesterton on War (out in January)
Mike,
I’m sure you remember that Chesterton described his own voice as “the mouse that came forth from the mountain”. That fits the first clip well enough, though in the subsequent ones the voice has acquired a welcome bass resonance.
Congratulations on the forthcoming publication of the book! I notice that Inkling Books has also reissued an edition of Cecil Chesterton’s G.K. Chesterton: A Criticism. I’ve been wanting to read that for a while, and I’m delighted to see it back in print.
The Hebdomadarian