The Record
Words in the Record
An index of the words and phrases the houses use, with the passages in which each is found. It is not a dictionary. The Institute does not keep one; the books are the authority, and a phrase means what it can be shown to have done.
Where a wording has changed, the earlier form is kept on the House Wordings page, printed beside the wording as it stands. Houses differ in small ways, and the differences are noted here rather than reconciled away.
The search reads the passages themselves: the catalogue, the circulars, the printed disputes, and the Journal.
32 entries in the index
Standing and wording
as it stands
First attested: 1977, in the first Members' Handbook · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…is replaced is not withdrawn. The handbook prints the definition as it stands and, opposite it, the definition as it stood. 3. Papers that cannot be brought into agreement are not destroyed. They are…
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…iod of separation. It is enclosed as it stood, beside the wording as it stands, which is how we print them. You ask, finally, what became of the papers you were told existed. Two folders are held outs…
In the circulars · PRO/1988/06 · 11 June 1988
Circular: The Keeping and Handing On of Rotas…ng holder where this is practicable. The successor takes the duty as it stands and may change how it is done.
as it stood
First attested: 1977, in the first Members' Handbook · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…ints the definition as it stands and, opposite it, the definition as it stood. 3. Papers that cannot be brought into agreement are not destroyed. They are held outside and the holding is itself entere…
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…for the 1977 definition of a period of separation. It is enclosed as it stood, beside the wording as it stands, which is how we print them. You ask, finally, what became of the papers you were told ex…
In the Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is For…irst is that we print the wording as it stands beside the wording as it stood, so that a change has to be looked at. The second is that where a house objects, the objection is entered beside the decis…
left standing
First attested: 1981, minutes of the North House · held from 1988
- Karst Housestood over
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…e should be corrected in the printed history was raised again and left standing. 6. Closed after the notices. The room may be left at any point in a general meeting; this was read aloud, as it is each…
In the Record · REP/2021/11 · 31 October 2021
Weather Book, Karst House, October Pages…we claim nothing more for than that both rooms were quiet. Pages stood over at the reconciliation: none.
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…conciliation. 4. The February question of the two founding dates. Left standing. 5. Asked why the Thursday is Thursday. The House has no present answer.
one House does not answer for another
First attested: 1979, circular on the conduct of houses · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…4. Karst asked for a ruling binding on all houses. None was made. One House does not answer for another. 5. The question of whether the 1974 date should be corrected in the printed history was raised…
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…tement on behalf of the Institute as a whole. We cannot give one. One House does not answer for another, and a paper signed here would be quoted at houses that never saw it. You ask why the reconcilia…
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…ell holds that it may not. Shore is understood to hold otherwise. One House does not answer for another. The matter remains referred and is carried to the next reconciliation. 4. The February question…
the House has no present answer
First attested: 1984, letter from the Fell House · held from 2018
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…e reconciliation falls in February rather than at the year's end. The House has no present answer. It has been February since 1977 and the reason, if there was one, was not written down. You ask for t…
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…ding dates. Left standing. 5. Asked why the Thursday is Thursday. The House has no present answer.
In the Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is For…referred and comes back next year, or somebody says plainly that the House has no present answer and we go on to the accounts. Newcomers find this maddening. They are right to. It is still better tha…
The books
at the next reconciliation
First attested: 1977, first reconciliation · held from 1996
In the Record · FRM/2022/06 · 19 May 2022
Page from the Circle Book, Carlisle Circle…k to be carried to the receiving House and brought into agreement at the next reconciliation.
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…e does not answer for another. The matter remains referred and is carried to the next reconciliation. 4. The February question of the two founding dates. Left standing. 5. Asked why the Thursday is Th…
In the circulars · PRO/1996/14 · 4 March 1996
Circular: The Wording of Entries…rought into agreement is held outside, and the holding is entered at the next reconciliation. 11. A question lodged and not answered: the matter remains referred. A question considered and not altered…
brought into agreement
First attested: 1977, first reconciliation · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…opposite it, the definition as it stood. 3. Papers that cannot be brought into agreement are not destroyed. They are held outside and the holding is itself entered. 4. Karst asked for a ruling binding…
In the Record · FRM/2022/06 · 19 May 2022
Page from the Circle Book, Carlisle Circle…e wording is kept.) Book to be carried to the receiving House and brought into agreement at the next reconciliation.
In the Record · LED/2026/04 · 3 February 2026
Repair Ledger, Orchard House, Winter Quarter…arried forward Gate, orchard side — 2 returned to the House Hours brought into agreement with the Common Record, 3 February. Two items have no present holder and are on the board. The 1979 ledger woul…
carried forward
First attested: 1975, house ledger · held from 1958
- Records before 1984kept over
- Shore Housekept over, still in occasional use
In the Record · REP/1989/AR · April 1990
Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989…yond its houses and their contents. The category shown as Returns is carried forward from the Common Record and is not an item of expenditure. This document has been reconciled with the Common Record.
In the Record · MIN/2026/02 · 12 February 2026
Stewardship Meeting — Minutes, February 2026…first Thursday after the reconciliation. Printed in full. Item 3 is carried forward to February 2027.
In the Record · DOM/1958/01 · September 1958 – March 1961
Repair and household book, Ashfield Road…12/- house — 19.10.58 Roof, two slates, north pitch 7/2 Mr Tully carried forward 02.11.58 Four chairs re-glued — E.V. done 16.11.58 Crockery, six plates replaced 3/9 Mrs Aherne done 07.12.58 Flour, d…
closed in the ordinary form
First attested: 1978, house ledger · held from 1996
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…pt. That is what got us out. — When Margaret died her account was closed in the ordinary form and her name stayed in the book, and the Wednesday reading came back to the House. I took it for a while.…
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…er House. Died 18 November 2015, at home, aged 71. The account is closed in the ordinary form. The entry is retained. The Wednesday reading and the seed store have returned to the House. Until they ar…
In the circulars · PRO/1996/14 · 4 March 1996
Circular: The Wording of Entries…red and not altered: left standing. 12. At a death the account is closed in the ordinary form and the entry is retained. This clause is a wording and not a rite; it is not read aloud. 13. Where a name…
entered beside
First attested: 1988, on the printing of objections · held from 1964
In the Record · CAT/1964/22 · 8 June 1964
Accession note, hospital records office…cords officer. Note: no volume is to be improved. Corrections are entered beside, not over. Cataloguer's note (2007): the phrases “continuous copy” and “retained in both forms” are standard hospital r…
In the Record · LED/2025/07 · March 2025
Circle Book — One Month, Bangor Circle…March first read 'Present 41'. This was a slip of the pen for 14. Entered beside and not over. D.C., 20.iii.25. MONTH: meetings 4, working mornings 2. Outward hours 20.0. Repair hours 16.5. Room $22.0…
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…t was agreed that where a house objects in writing, the objection is entered beside the decision, in full, and the two are read together. An objection is not answered by a summary. 2. A wording that i…
held outside
First attested: 1983, archivist's return · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…that cannot be brought into agreement are not destroyed. They are held outside and the holding is itself entered. 4. Karst asked for a ruling binding on all houses. None was made. One House does not a…
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…r liked people making much of that. — Two boxes of my letters are held outside the Record because nobody can date them. They are not thrown away. That is the part I would tell a stranger about, if I h…
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…what became of the papers you were told existed. Two folders are held outside the Record because they cannot be dated or attributed; they may be read here by appointment. Of anything beyond them, no…
no account is held
First attested: 1976, in the archivist's first return · held from 1966
In the Record · COR/1966/027 · 19 October 1966
Letter, E. Vale to a hospital committee…le, Records. Accessioned 1999. Carbon copy; the committee's reply is not held.
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…d; they may be read here by appointment. Of anything beyond them, no account is held. You would be welcome at an open evening. The table is laid at seven, the room may be left at any point, and nothin…
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…d is not a rule anywhere else. Of her years between 1986 and 1990 no account is held; she did not attend and did not wish it entered. The account ends here. Read together with the 1979 rota circular,…
read together
First attested: 1988, on the printing of objections · held from 1981
In the Record · COR/1981/046 · 27 May 1981
Letter, E. Vale to the stewardship…did and why, at the time, in language the person concerned could read without wincing. If you cannot write it in that language you have not yet decided; you have only agreed. — E.V. Quoted in MEM/202…
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…he objection is entered beside the decision, in full, and the two are read together. An objection is not answered by a summary. 2. A wording that is replaced is not withdrawn. The handbook prints the…
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…id not attend and did not wish it entered. The account ends here. Read together with the 1979 rota circular, which governs the return of work at a death.
the account ends here
First attested: 1990, catalogue note · held from 1996
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…went after Bristol I could not tell you and neither can the book. The account ends here, as the archivist likes to write. — We had two years in the middle eighties of what a steward of mine used to ca…
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…account is held; she did not attend and did not wish it entered. The account ends here. Read together with the 1979 rota circular, which governs the return of work at a death.
In the circulars · PRO/1996/14 · 4 March 1996
Circular: The Wording of Entries…ng, none of which we can attest. Where the evidence stops, write: the account ends here. 10. A paper that cannot be brought into agreement is held outside, and the holding is entered at the next recon…
the matter remains referred
First attested: 1980, register of referred matters · held from 1981
In the Record · COR/1993/108 · 22 February 1993
Circulated dissent: “On Being Legible”…est is accepted and the glossary will be published. The second is referred to continuity review. The third is declined; the phrase is descriptive and no better one has been proposed.
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…erstood to hold otherwise. One House does not answer for another. The matter remains referred and is carried to the next reconciliation. 4. The February question of the two founding dates. Left standi…
In the Record · REP/2026/04 · 9 April 2026
Public Work Note, Lantern House…rinted. The question of what may be published about living people remains referred, and this note is entered beside the last one so that the two are read together.
Work and rota
returned to the House
First attested: 1979, rota circular · held from 1996
- Shore Housecome back to the House
- Karst Housereturned to the board
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…entry is retained. The Wednesday reading and the seed store have returned to the House. Until they are taken up the work is carried by the Wednesday pair. She is not replaced. The ordinary Thursday w…
In the Record · REP/2021/11 · 31 October 2021
Weather Book, Karst House, October Pages…ed of anyone. 22 Oct Wind. Slate off the wash-house; the item has returned to the board and stands on it still. 31 Oct Frost. Twelve minutes kept at Karst and, we are told, at Ljubljana Circle the sam…
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…ere; those who need to know have been told. The Thursday rota has come back to the House. Until it is taken up again the work is carried by whoever is free, which for the next fortnight is mostly Berg…
taken up again
First attested: 1979, rota circular · held from 1982
In the Record · MIN/2019/06 · 8 June 2019
Continuity Review of Circles — Minutes…ny person, and noted that the convenership had been laid down and taken up again in a manner that met PRO/1994/05 in form and defeated it in substance. Recognition withdrawn. 3. KLAMATH FALLS. The cir…
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…ing and the seed store have returned to the House. Until they are taken up the work is carried by the Wednesday pair. She is not replaced. The ordinary Thursday was kept on the 19th, as she had asked…
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…n told. The Thursday rota has come back to the House. Until it is taken up again the work is carried by whoever is free, which for the next fortnight is mostly Bergstrom. The place is kept. The table…
the work is carried
First attested: 1979, rota circular · held from 1996
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…he seed store have returned to the House. Until they are taken up the work is carried by the Wednesday pair. She is not replaced. The ordinary Thursday was kept on the 19th, as she had asked in 2009 t…
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…rsday rota has come back to the House. Until it is taken up again the work is carried by whoever is free, which for the next fortnight is mostly Bergstrom. The place is kept. The table is laid for the…
In the Record · LED/2024/08 · 14 September 2024
Rota Note, Cedar House, Friday Kitchen…to the House. 13 Sept Carried by the Tuesday pair (Achebe, Lund). The work is carried. The place is kept. 20 Sept Carried by the Tuesday pair. 27 Sept M. Iyer returns. Friday kitchen taken up again. H…
Coming and being counted
no second asking is made
First attested: 1982, circular on approaches · held from 1996
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…nd then never again. I have thought about that a good deal since. No second asking is made, and at the time I thought it was rudeness. — The evening was the same then as now, near enough. The table is…
In the Record · COR/2019/144 · 8 October 2019
Letter, Steward of the North House to a Steward at Orchard…ritten to in April, in the ordinary way, and he has not answered. No second asking is made. That is not coldness; it is the only way an invitation can be an invitation. I know you think he would be gl…
In the Record · COR/2024/031 · 26 February 2024
Letter to a Member Considering the Fellowship…e conversation. If you decide against it the matter is closed and no second asking is made, by me or by anyone. One caution, kindly meant. People who take up the Fellowship in a good week often set it…
nothing follows from it
First attested: 1979, procedure on first attendance · held from 1988
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…he table is laid at seven, the room may be left at any point, and nothing follows from it. — E. Hargreaves, steward
In the Record · FRM/2022/06 · 19 May 2022
Page from the Circle Book, Carlisle Circle…nd who brought her, and nothing else. Entered without annotation. Nothing follows from it, and she was told so. 19 May Twelve. J. Reddick still away. The room was left open. (A House would write that…
In the Record · COR/2024/031 · 26 February 2024
Letter to a Member Considering the Fellowship…vocation turns out to consist of. Come in April and we will talk. Nothing follows from the conversation. If you decide against it the matter is closed and no second asking is made, by me or by anyone.…
Absence
the place is kept
First attested: 1977, Members' Handbook · held from 1996
- Carlisle and Ferrand circlesthe room was left open
In the Record · FRM/2022/06 · 19 May 2022
Page from the Circle Book, Carlisle Circle…ick still away. The room was left open. (A House would write that the place is kept. Carlisle has always written it the other way and the wording is kept.) Book to be carried to the receiving House an…
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…hoever is free, which for the next fortnight is mostly Bergstrom. The place is kept. The table is laid for the usual number. The ordinary Thursday was kept on the 2nd and will be kept on the 9th. Four…
In the Record · LED/2024/08 · 14 September 2024
Rota Note, Cedar House, Friday Kitchen…Carried by the Tuesday pair (Achebe, Lund). The work is carried. The place is kept. 20 Sept Carried by the Tuesday pair. 27 Sept M. Iyer returns. Friday kitchen taken up again. Hours standing at 6 Se…
Letters
not presently received
First attested: 1996, public notice · held from 1996
In the Record · COR/2019/144 · 8 October 2019
Letter, Steward of the North House to a Steward at Orchard…s it to. As to the enquiry from the school: requests of that kind are not presently received at Orchard, and you should say so plainly rather than let it sit. An honest no is answered in the ordinary…
In the circulars · PRO/1996/14 · 4 March 1996
Circular: The Wording of Entries…8. Requests of a kind the Institute does not take are answered as not presently received, in the ordinary way, on paper. G. Sørhaug, Archivist.
In the correspondence pages
The passage of an enquiry…ere is no general form, and general enquiries sent by other means are not presently received. What you write — your name, your email address, the house if you name one, and the body of the note — is w…
The evening
after the notices
First attested: 1977, order of the evening · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…the printed history was raised again and left standing. 6. Closed after the notices. The room may be left at any point in a general meeting; this was read aloud, as it is each year. The 1988 conventio…
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…he arrangements made. NOTICE — SHORE HOUSE MEM/2023/04 To be read after the notices on the 2nd and again on the 9th. A member of this house is in hospital and expects to be some weeks. The name is not…
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…MIN/2025/03 Present: nine. Taken before the first reading; closed after the notices. 1. Roof, north side. Quoted twice. Cheaper quote accepted. 2. The wording of the visitor card. A member asked that…
before the first reading
First attested: 1977, order of the evening · held from 1988
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…cision it objects to. MINUTES — GENERAL MEETING MIN/1988/07 Taken before the first reading. Fifty-one present. 1. It was agreed that where a house objects in writing, the objection is entered beside t…
In the Record · MIN/2025/03 · 11 March 2025
Minutes, Fell House, House Meeting…g retained. MINUTES — FELL HOUSE MIN/2025/03 Present: nine. Taken before the first reading; closed after the notices. 1. Roof, north side. Quoted twice. Cheaper quote accepted. 2. The wording of the v…
In the circulars · PRO/1996/14 · 4 March 1996
Circular: The Wording of Entries…pt, with the day amended to suit the house. 16. Minutes are taken before the first reading and closed after the notices. That the room may be left at any point is read aloud once a year and is not oth…
the ordinary Thursday was kept
First attested: 1976, North House minutes · held from 1996
In the Record · MEM/2015/09 · 21 November 2015
Entry on a Death, River House…p the work is carried by the Wednesday pair. She is not replaced. The ordinary Thursday was kept on the 19th, as she had asked in 2009 that it should be. Her place was laid and left empty, which is wh…
In the Record · REP/2021/11 · 31 October 2021
Weather Book, Karst House, October Pages…out. Set down by P.N. at 23.10. 14 Oct Fog to the road. Six came. The ordinary Thursday was kept. 18 Oct Difficult weather in the house this fortnight, and not to be laid at anyone's door. Recorded be…
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…strom. The place is kept. The table is laid for the usual number. The ordinary Thursday was kept on the 2nd and will be kept on the 9th. Four came on the 2nd. That is enough to lay a table and read.
the room may be left
First attested: 1977, order of the evening · held from 1988
In the Record · PRO/1996/11 · 1996
House Handbook: Order of a Weekly Observance…. No instruction is given. Visitors are told beforehand that they may leave the room and that no one will follow. 18:22 — Reading. A single passage, chosen by the steward, of not more than four hundre…
In the Record · MIN/1988/07 · 16 July 1988
Minutes, General Meeting: On the Printing of Objections…was raised again and left standing. 6. Closed after the notices. The room may be left at any point in a general meeting; this was read aloud, as it is each year. The 1988 convention is the reason the…
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…would be welcome at an open evening. The table is laid at seven, the room may be left at any point, and nothing follows from it. — E. Hargreaves, steward
the table is laid
First attested: 1975, house book · held from 2017
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…as rudeness. — The evening was the same then as now, near enough. The table is laid before anyone arrives, for the number on the list, and it is laid whether or not the weather is bad. — The handbook…
In the Record · COR/2018/077 · 3 May 2018
Letter, North House to an Enquirer…hem, no account is held. You would be welcome at an open evening. The table is laid at seven, the room may be left at any point, and nothing follows from it. — E. Hargreaves, steward
In the Record · MEM/2023/04 · 2 March 2023
House Notice, Shore House, Read After the Notices…ch for the next fortnight is mostly Bergstrom. The place is kept. The table is laid for the usual number. The ordinary Thursday was kept on the 2nd and will be kept on the 9th. Four came on the 2nd. T…
In the Journal and in letters
difficult weather
First attested: 1985, letter between stewards · held from 2017
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…ars in the middle eighties of what a steward of mine used to call difficult weather. Nobody's fault, and no good naming anyone for it. The rotas were kept. That is what got us out. — When Margaret die…
In the Record · COR/2019/144 · 8 October 2019
Letter, Steward of the North House to a Steward at Orchard…. An honest no is answered in the ordinary way; a silence is not. Difficult weather here since the summer, and I will not pretend otherwise. The rotas are being kept, which is the main thing. — A.O.
In the Record · REP/2021/11 · 31 October 2021
Weather Book, Karst House, October Pages…Fog to the road. Six came. The ordinary Thursday was kept. 18 Oct Difficult weather in the house this fortnight, and not to be laid at anyone's door. Recorded because it is the sort of thing a weather…
the common quiet
First attested: 1991, on the standing of circles · held from 2017
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…minutes of quiet that they are keeping at Fell at the same hour — the common quiet, though I have never liked people making much of that. — Two boxes of my letters are held outside the Record because…
In the Record · REP/2021/11 · 31 October 2021
Weather Book, Karst House, October Pages…at Karst and, we are told, at Ljubljana Circle the same evening — the common quiet, which we claim nothing more for than that both rooms were quiet. Pages stood over at the reconciliation: none.
In the Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is For…s keep twelve minutes of quiet at the same point in the evening — the common quiet, for which we claim nothing except that both rooms were quiet — and then somebody puts the kettle on and we go back t…
the long attention
First attested: 1986, Fellowship letter · held from 2017
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…You carry it; you do not take her place. — What has it been for? The long attention, I suppose. Forty years of Thursdays, and the whole day around them, and twelve minutes of quiet that they are keep…
In the Record · COR/2024/031 · 26 February 2024
Letter to a Member Considering the Fellowship…ed of a fellow is what has already been asked of you, for longer: the long attention, which is mostly Februaries and mostly nobody noticing. You write that you feel you ought to be doing something lar…
In the Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is For…e who tells you otherwise is selling something. The rest of it is the long attention: turning up in the worst month, checking the near work, keeping the whole day rather than an hour of it. In Februar…
the near work
First attested: 1984, public work note · held from 2024
In the Record · COR/2024/031 · 26 February 2024
Letter to a Member Considering the Fellowship…el you ought to be doing something larger. I would rather you did the near work. The near work at Shore this spring is a hedge, a boiler, and two people who need driving to the hospital on Wednesdays.…
In the Record · REP/2026/04 · 9 April 2026
Public Work Note, Lantern House…ttend anything, and nothing follows from having worked beside us. The near work this quarter was a food store, a library's bindery, and the last three weeks of a neighbour's life. A county office aske…
In the Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is For…it is the long attention: turning up in the worst month, checking the near work, keeping the whole day rather than an hour of it. In February the houses keep twelve minutes of quiet at the same point…
the whole day
First attested: 1980, journal · held from 2017
In the Record · ORA/2017/03 · 6 June 2017
Oral History: Ingrid Bergstrom, Shore House…for? The long attention, I suppose. Forty years of Thursdays, and the whole day around them, and twelve minutes of quiet that they are keeping at Fell at the same hour — the common quiet, though I hav…
In the Record · COR/2024/031 · 26 February 2024
Letter to a Member Considering the Fellowship…the work is carried while they are away. But it is easier to keep the whole day than to keep an hour of it and spend the rest arguing with yourself. — E.H., steward
In the Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is For…n: turning up in the worst month, checking the near work, keeping the whole day rather than an hour of it. In February the houses keep twelve minutes of quiet at the same point in the evening — the co…
Catalogue terms
The ordinary nouns of the administration, with the records in which each is used. Where the Members’ Handbook has printed more than one wording, both are on the House Wordings page.
Attention
The Journal · Gunnar Sørhaug · Autumn 2025
On Finding Precedent Where There May Only Be Resemblance…is what collecting is, and it means the pattern in our shelves is partly a picture of our own attention.
The Journal · Peter Amit · November 2021
The Discipline of FinishingThe reason is not moral. An unfinished thing occupies attention at a low, constant rate — a small tax levied every time you walk past it. Six unfinished things and a person is paying most of…
In the Record
- Letter, E. Vale to T. OrrellCOR/1976/014 · 9 November 1976
In use onThe Practice, The Founding Letter
Circle
The Journal · Rosalind Achebe · Spring 2026
A Circle Is Not an AudienceI convened a circle for two years, which is the limit, and for most of the first year I was privately annoyed by the limit. I was good at it. The room was booked, the rota was fair, the read…
The Journal · Iona Reid · February 2023
A House Is Not a CommunityWe were offered a second property in the glen in 2019 and we declined it. The circle was not large enough to inhabit what it already had, and a half-occupied house does not read as modest. I…
In the Record
- Notes for Stewards: A First AttendancePRO/1978/02 · Revised 1978, 1991, 2011
In use onGatherings
Closed observance
Earlier wordingsProcedures · PRO/1984/07 · 22 October 1984
Circular: Closed Observances and the Absent ChairCLOSED OBSERVANCES
In the Record
- Stewardship Meeting — MinutesMIN/1985/03 · 14 March 1985
In use onHouse Wordings
Common Record
First recorded: 1974
Procedures · PRO/1991/02 · 9 February 1991
Circular: The Conduct of a Continuity Review6. The review does not read: a member's Common Record as lodged by that
In the Record
- Stewardship Meeting — MinutesMIN/1985/03 · 14 March 1985
- Circulated dissent: “On Being Legible”COR/1993/108 · 22 February 1993
In use onArchive, Revisions of the Record
Continuity
The Journal · Gunnar Sørhaug · Autumn 2025
On Finding Precedent Where There May Only Be Resemblance…under which prehistories get written. Similarity of practice is not evidence of institutional continuity. I have written that sentence into the standing guidance and I have been asked twice…
The Journal · Naomi Whitlock · Spring 2026
What an Archive Owes the Person It DescribesContinuity is not the same thing as indefinite possession.
In the Record
- Letter, E. Vale to T. OrrellCOR/1976/014 · 9 November 1976
In use onThe Practice
Continuity review
Earlier wordingsThe Journal · Rie Katsuragawa · January 2025
The Ethical Use of Attention…he total hours it asks of a full member. The proposal has been received warmly and referred to continuity review, where warm proposals go.
The Journal · Rhoda Aberdare · January 2025
The Last QuarterThe stewardship will hold its continuity review in the spring and I expect to be asked what was learned. I will say: that finishing is a collective faculty and not a private virtue, and that…
In the Record
- Circulated dissent: “On Being Legible”COR/1993/108 · 22 February 1993
In use onHouse Wordings, Standing Disputes
Continuous
The Journal · Gunnar Sørhaug · Autumn 2025
On Finding Precedent Where There May Only Be Resemblance…The repair book has a column in which things are carried forward, and once, at the back, kept continuous. The hospital note directs that a record be retained in both forms and that correcti…
The Journal · Gunnar Sørhaug · Spring 2026
Against the Clean Record…itution it belonged to. This is not because archivists are deceitful. It is because tidying is continuous and nobody notices any single act of it. A description is improved. A duplicate is d…
In the Record
- Memorandum: the designation of former membersMEM/1986/09 · 3 June 1986
- Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989REP/1989/AR · April 1990
In use onRevisions of the Record
Fellowship
The Journal · Naomi Whitlock · June 2022
Why We Eat TogetherAsk why a community eats together and you will be given reasons about fellowship. The reasons are true and they are not the mechanism. The mechanism is duration and constraint. You are seate…
In the Record
- Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989REP/1989/AR · April 1990
In use onThe Fellowship
First attendance
Earlier wordingsProcedures · PRO/1979/04 · 6 September 1979
Procedure at a First AttendancePROCEDURE AT A FIRST ATTENDANCE
In the Record
- Notes for Stewards: A First AttendancePRO/1978/02 · Revised 1978, 1991, 2011
In use onOrientation
House
First recorded: 1974, in a note about the building's insurance
The Journal · Gunnar Sørhaug · Autumn 2025
On Finding Precedent Where There May Only Be Resemblance…before the Institute existed, in a hand we cannot identify, and it is still the way the North House kitchen cooks that dish. Members who are shown it tend to lower their voices. I have watc…
The Journal · Naomi Whitlock · Spring 2026
What an Archive Owes the Person It Describes…ssment is a reason to publish. I would support a rule saying so and I would apply it to my own house first. Nor am I arguing that a reader's discomfort is a ground for withdrawal; discomfort…
In the Record
- Photograph: kitchen, North HousePHO/1971/22 · Catalogued as 1971
- Oral history: Dorothy HargreavesOH/2004/07 · Recorded 12 June 2004
In use onHouses, Our History
No longer continuous
First recorded: 1986, MEM/1986/09
Disputes · MEM/1986/09 · The Stewardship
On what to call the people who leaveThe form of words proposed is: no longer continuous. It states a fact about the record and not a judgement about the person. It carries no implication of fault, of disgrace, or of exclusion…
In the Record
- Memorandum: the designation of former membersMEM/1986/09 · 3 June 1986
- Objection to MEM/1986/09, circulated to the housesCOR/1986/141 · 19 November 1986
- Circulated dissent: “On Being Legible”COR/1993/108 · 22 February 1993
In use onThose No Longer Continuous, Standing Disputes
Obligation
The Journal · Naomi Whitlock · Spring 2026
What an Archive Owes the Person It Describes…s a letter in 1989 they were consenting to a filing cabinet in Maine, not to a search box. The obligation they accepted and the obligation we now impose on them are different obligations, an…
The Journal · Gunnar Sørhaug · Spring 2026
Against the Clean Record…is narrower than it sounds. It is a presumption, not a rule. It applies where the law and our obligations to living people allow, which is a large exception and I do not pretend otherwise.…
In the Record
- Letter, E. Vale to T. OrrellCOR/1976/014 · 9 November 1976
- Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989REP/1989/AR · April 1990
In use onThe Practice, Public Work
Observance
The Journal · Mara Evensen · May 2019
The Problem of Unwitnessed DecisionsThe Institute is good at gatherings. We are good at the table, the observance, the shared task. These are witnessed forms and they work.
The Journal · Tomaž Vrhovec · August 2023
What Is Preserved When a Practice Survives?We have several observances whose reasons are not recorded. The stewardship has resolved twice to record them and has not done so. I have stopped assuming this is negligence.
In the Record
- Notes for Stewards: A First AttendancePRO/1978/02 · Revised 1978, 1991, 2011
- House Handbook: Order of a Weekly ObservancePRO/1996/11 · 1996
In use onThe Practice, House Calendar
Open Table
First recorded: 1974
In the Record
- Notes for Stewards: A First AttendancePRO/1978/02 · Revised 1978, 1991, 2011
In use onGatherings, Our History
Period of separation
Earlier wordingsProcedures · PRO/1988/06 · 11 June 1988
Circular: The Keeping and Handing On of Rotas5. Where a member is absent, ill, or in a period of separation, the
Procedures · PRO/1991/02 · 9 February 1991
Circular: The Conduct of a Continuity Review(b) CONTINUOUS, WITH A PERIOD OF SEPARATION NOTED.
In the Record
- Memorandum: the designation of former membersMEM/1986/09 · 3 June 1986
In use onHouse Wordings
Public work
In the Record
- Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989REP/1989/AR · April 1990
- Oral history: Dorothy HargreavesOH/2004/07 · Recorded 12 June 2004
In use onPublic Work
Reconciliation
Earlier wordingsThe Journal · Gerda Sørhaug · Winter 2026
What February Is ForThe reconciliation is a month of checking books against one another. It is the least interesting thing we do and the reason the rest of it survives.
Procedures · PRO/1996/14 · 4 March 1996
Circular: The Wording of Entries…for the books. Issued because two houses had begun writing the same action three ways, and the reconciliation could not tell them apart.
In the Record
- Photograph: kitchen, North HousePHO/1971/22 · Catalogued as 1971
- Letter, E. Vale to T. OrrellCOR/1976/014 · 9 November 1976
- Annual Report, Year Ended 31 December 1989REP/1989/AR · April 1990
Returning member
Earlier wordingsProcedures · PRO/1996/04 · 3 March 1996
Circular: Periods of Separation5. A returning member is welcomed at notices by name and is not asked
In use onHouse Wordings
Revision number
In the Record
- Letter, E. Vale to T. OrrellCOR/1976/014 · 9 November 1976
In use onRevisions of the Record
Steward
The Journal · Mara Evensen · March 2024
Against Permanent Availability…that she had begun keeping the morning closed at home, alone, with no house around her and no steward to notice. She said the first week was unpleasant and the second was not. She asked whe…
The Journal · Mara Evensen · May 2019
The Problem of Unwitnessed Decisions…cted at 6:40 in the morning, alone, deciding whether to do the thing you said you would do. No steward is present. No record is made. The decision is entirely yours, and the number of such d…
In the Record
- Notes for Stewards: A First AttendancePRO/1978/02 · Revised 1978, 1991, 2011
- Stewardship Meeting — MinutesMIN/1985/03 · 14 March 1985
In use onProcedures & Circulars
A reader who finds a use we have missed, or a use that contradicts the others, may write to the archivist at the North House. The letter is entered whether or not the index is altered.