F. Matthias Alexander
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Frederick Matthias Alexander (20 January 1869 – 10 October 1955) was an Australian actor and author who developed the Alexander Technique, an educational process said to recognize and overcome reactive, habitual limitations in movement and thinking.
Early life
Alexander was born on 20 January 1869, in Australia on the northern bank of the Inglis River, near the present-day town of Wynyard, Tasmania. He was the eldest of ten children born to John Alexander, a blacksmith, and Betsy Brown.[1] His parents were the offspring of convicts transported to what was then called Van Diemen's Land for offences such as theft and destroying agricultural machinery as part of the 1830 Swing Riots in England.[2] Throughout his life Alexander was evasive about his ancestry, claiming Scottish descent and upgrading the status of his forebears.[3] The Alexander family had, in fact, for generations prior to the Swing Riots, lived at Ramsbury in Wiltshire. In Tudor and Stuart times they were agricultural labourers, but by the eighteenth century had established themselves as carpenters and wheelwrights, some moderately wealthy, owning cottages and fields.[4] Alexander was born prematurely, and his survival was due to his mother's determination and care. As a result, he was her favourite child, and they remained close throughout his life.[5] His relationship with his religious, hard-working father was less strong, and Alexander, with other family members, later became estranged from him.[6] However, he later credited his father with teaching him to be alert and observant.[7]
The family moved to Wynyard town in 1870, and Alexander, though not strong physically, enjoyed rural activities such as fishing and shooting, and learned a love of horses, riding and horse racing.[8][9] He grew up in an evangelical Protestant household; the Sabbath was strictly observed, and his father, apparently a heavy drinker, seems to have taken a pledge of temperance in 1879. Alexander described himself as an agnostic, but was profoundly influenced by his Christian upbringing: his speech as an adult was peppered with biblical quotes, and he had been imbued a strong sense of right and wrong, self-discipline and personal responsibility.[10] Education was not a priority for many local parents, but Betsy Alexander was determined that her children should be educated. Alexander first attended a Sunday school, and later the government school. Alexander was precocious, sensitive and attention-seeking, and as such made a difficult pupil.[11] However, his teacher, a Scotsman named Robert Robertson, proved sympathetic, and acted as something of a father figure; he excused Alexander from daily school attendance and instead gave him lessons in the evening. As well as a basic education, Robertson gave Alexander a lifelong love of Shakespeare, theatre and poetry.[9][12] Alexander was physically not suited to manual labour: he would later state that an otherwise idyllic boyhood had been marred by the severe internal pains that he experienced, generally after physical exertion.[13] At 15, Alexander became a pupil-teacher assistant to Robertson, with the goal of a career as a schoolmaster.[12]
At age sixteen, he visited an aunt and uncle in
Melbourne 1889–1904
In 1889, after three years in Waratah, Alexander decided to leave Tasmania to follow his aunt and uncle to Melbourne where they had moved the year before. He sought as he later put it "a wider scope of activity, not only in gaining a livelihood but in the fields of art and education in the fullest sense."[18] He spent his first three months in the city devoting himself to culture, and spending his savings on visiting theatres and art galleries and attending concerts.[9][19] According to his own account, he determined to "train myself for a career as a reciter to take a position meanwhile in the office of some company." He worked in a series of clerical jobs and took lessons from teachers such as an English actor James Cathcart, and an Australian elocutionist Fred Hill. He was inspired by the Melbourne theatrical performances of Sarah Bernhardt, all of which he claimed to have attended.[20]
Alexander continued to suffer periods of ill-health, and was advised by his doctor to leave Melbourne for healthier climes. Three months of seaside air of Geelong helped him recover his health, and he returned to the city.[21] Little information exists about much of Alexander's years in Melbourne,[22] but from November 1891 onwards, newspapers began to report his participation in amateur dramatic recitals, and give them positive reviews.[22] However, Alexander began to suffer from hoarseness, and at times after performing could hardly speak. Friends also noted audible "gasping" during his recitations. As described forty years later in the first chapter of his book The Use of the Self, advice from doctors and voice trainers did not have the necessary results, so he began a process of self-examination with mirrors into his speaking habits to see if he could determine the cause. With time, he found that by using "conscious control" of actions, by inhibiting wrong movements rather than trying to "do" correct ones, and by focussing on the "means whereby" rather than "the end to be gained", his vocal problems and longstanding respiratory problems disappeared.[23] The evidence from other publications of Alexander's, however, suggests that these insights came to Alexander over a much longer period and in a less systematic fashion than he described in 1932, with some terms and procedures not appearing in his writings until as late as 1924.[24]
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/The_Australian_Building.jpg/220px-The_Australian_Building.jpg)
Freed from his vocal problems, Alexander gave up his clerical jobs and embarked on a career as a professional reciter and voice teacher. He commenced in early 1894 with a tour of his native Tasmania, which included an unhappy visit to his family. His parents' financial situation was precarious, and they had been deeply affected by the death of an infant son in 1893; his father turned to alcohol as a result. According to Alexander, father and son quarrelled, with John Alexander expressing disapproval of his son as a "vagabond and strolling player", and there is no record of them ever meeting again.
London 1904–1914
Alexander produced a series of pamphlets in order to explain his discoveries about respiration and the voice and describe his successful cases. Alexander was not a good or clear writer, but these works show the development of Alexander's theories and the first mentions in print of such important concepts in the Alexander Technique as "conscious control", "antagonistic action", the whispered "ah", the unreliability of self-perceptions and sensations, "inhibition" and the "means whereby".[40] Edith Young travelled to England soon after, arriving in September 1904. Letters from her ailing husband Robert suggest that he encouraged her to follow Alexander, and urged Alexander to take care of and be faithful to her. Alexander had hoped that Edith would help him with his teaching, but she was interested in a stage career, and was scornful of his work. Motivated by concerns about respectability and perhaps about what she might reveal about his past, Alexander installed her at a distance in the suburb of Streatham. Michael Bloch, Alexander's biographer, speculates that "for some years she may have been the one person before whom he never had to pretend, with whom he was able to reminisce about his old life and friends in Australia, and who offered him intimate comforts."[41] Throughout his life, Alexander was a private man who enjoyed social company, but he was not a party-goer and did not join clubs or societies. Instead of close friendships, he tended to have disciples and supporters.[42] In 1909, as also happened frequently throughout his life, Alexander fell out with a friend and supporter, in this case Dr. Spicer. In a series of papers, Spicer, who clearly believed that Alexander lacked medical knowledge, claimed corrections of posture and respiration for the medical profession rather "untrained amateurs and ignorant quacks". Alexander responded with pamphlets accusing Spicer of plagiarism and distortion.[43] As a consequence of this dispute, Alexander finally produced a long-contemplated book, which appeared in three parts: Man's Supreme Inheritance (October 1910), an Addenda (March 1911), and Conscious Control (October 1912). These were combined into one volume in 1918.[44]
In 1911 Alexander's mother and his sister Amy arrived for a visit and moved into his rooms at Army & Navy Mansions in Westminster, while Alexander lived and practiced at the nearby 16 Ashley Place.
American years 1914–1924
Alexander sailed for New York in September 1914, where he joined Margaret Naumburg. Influenced by Montessori education, psychoanalysis and Alexander's work, she had just founded the Walden School, and assisted Alexander in setting up a practice, including recruiting influential pupils such as Arthur M. Reis and Waldo Frank. The business was soon booming, and by the end of 1914, Ethel Webb came from the United Kingdom to assist in the teaching. With the exception of the winter of 1921–2, for the next ten years, Alexander spent the autumn and winter of the year in the United States, and returned to the United Kingdom for the late spring and summer to see family members and rest. For the first few years, Webb remained in the US to keep the practice open over the summer months. In 1916 Irene Tasker, joined the New York practice as an apprentice.[50] Alexander was proudly British; he never really felt at home in the United States, and was critical of American society, including their lack of involvement, until 1917, in the First World War.[51]
In 1916, the American philosopher and educational pioneer
The success of book led to an influx of new pupils to the practice. The demand meant that A.R. was needed in the United States for the winters of 1918–9 and 1919–20; that he was able to do so was a testimony to "the work", as A.R. had received serious injuries in a fall from a horse in 1918, and had been told by doctors that he would never walk again. For the rest of his life, however, A.R. used a cane and taught sitting down.[56] From 1920 the brothers began periodic teaching in Boston, and started providing a continuous presence in America and London: each summer for the next four years A.R. continued teaching in the US, only going back to the United Kingdom when Alexander returned to America in the fall.[57]
Post war, the London practice at No. 16 Ashley Place (near Victoria Station) was also doing well, and both Ethel Webb and Irene Tasker returned to work there. Prominent pupils during this period included a future Archbishop of Canterbury William Temple and the chocolate manufacturer Joseph Rowntree.[58] He also developed good relations with several doctor pupils, who helped him and, in the case of two of them, Andrew Rugg-Gunn, J. E. R. McDonagh, became lifelong friends.[59]
Alexander's charismatic personality often led to romantic feelings in women; among those smitten was Ethel Webb, who had spent more time with Alexander than his wife. The two women hated each other.[60] Alexander and Edith's marriage was in difficulties: but the pair agreed to adopt Peggy Piddock, born in 1918, the daughter of Edith's younger sister May, and they were both devoted to their daughter, which likely kept the couple together.[61] Her nephew 27-year-old ex-army officer Owen Vicary moved into the basement flat at Ashley Place with his wife Gladys (known as Jack) and their two children, and Edith appears to have developed romantic feelings for him.[62] Alexander was considering writing another book, and was spurred into action by the 1922 publication of a book by Gerald Stanley Lee which clearly described Alexander's techniques without acknowledging their originator. He considered patenting the method, but was told this would be impractical.[63] His book "Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual", which Alexander was later to describe as his most important book, was published in May 1923 in United States with an introduction written by Dewey.[64] Alexander missed the launch as he had to return to the UK due to family difficulties following his mother's death in February 1923 while Alexander was in the United States.[65] Despite being clearer, more coherent and better written, it received less notice than its predecessor.[66] Following a lawsuit in 1923 resulting from an attempted return of a new car after a few weeks, Alexander transferred all his considerable assets to friends and arranged to be declared bankrupt rather than pay the debt he owed. The debt was later bought and cancelled by friends, but Alexander never applied for discharge from bankruptcy and thus remained technically bankrupt until the end of his life.[67] Alexander's regular visits to America ended in the spring of 1924, and from then on both he and A.R. were based in London. His bankruptcy notwithstanding, he was financially successful and had a flourishing practice in London and could afford to live where he felt happiest.[68] Another possible reason was to distance himself from Dewey, who was proposing a scientific trial of the technique; the prospect alarmed Alexander as he had no confidence in the investigation and in addition feared a loss of control over the technique.[69]
England 1925–1940, 1943–1956
In March 1925, Alexander bought an 18th-century farmhouse Penhill with 20 acres (81,000 m2) of grounds, in Sidcup, Kent. The property included a lodge, occupied by a family of 5, all of whom worked in house or grounds. Edith and their daughter Peggy took up residence, with Alexander joining them at the weekends to ride his horse and tend his garden.[70] They were soon joined by Jack Vicary, who having left her husband, moved to a cottage near Penhill in which she ran a shop. Initially, there was a good relationship between the two households, and the Alexanders' relationship went through a happier period. However, in 1929, the two separated; Edith had become jealous of Alexander's work and relationships, especially those with women, and bitter about her own aging and lack of success. Edith moved back to Little Venice in London, and Peggy spent the weekdays with her, and weekends at Penhill with her father. Edith became an alcoholic, and died in 1938.[71] Alexander had become increasingly attracted to Jack, and the two began an affair, which resulted in the birth of a son, John Vicary, born in the US in June 1931. Jack had travelled there for the sake of respectability, and claimed to have adopted John there.[72]
At Ashley Place, the "little school" was founded with Irene Tasker as teacher, not only of the Alexander Technique, but also of academics. About six to eight students, most of whom had disabilities of some sort, attended at first, but the numbers grew to a dozen by 1933, requiring a move to a larger space.
In 1924 Alexander's approach received a boost from a theoretical perspective when the German professor Rudolf Magnus published his book about the physiology of posture. As his supporters were quick to note, Magnus' scientific conclusions in many ways mirrored many of Alexander's longstanding principles, including that correct functioning is dependent on the alignment of the head, neck and back, and on correct sensory perception. Critics pointed out differences between the two theories, however, and the current view is that the two theories are related but describe different concepts.[75]
Alexander also attracted several important new pupils, including the statesman
The first teacher training course was started in February 1931, at Ashley Place,[79][80] Alexander was known as "F.M." to the trainees. The course continued alongside his own practice until 1940, when it was suspended because of the war. Some of Alexander's teachers entered the services, and Alexander himself relocated to the United States from 1940 until 1943. Fearing that the technique would be lost, he returned to London in 1943 and successfully restarted the training course.
At the end of the war, in 1944, Dr. Dorothy Morrison (née Drew), hoping for improvement to her own 'use' (following injury in a car crash) and to the health of her disabled mother, joined the small group of Alexander's pupils at Ashley Place. Dorothy became a close friend of Alexander's at that time, gave medical evidence at the Libel case in South Africa and soon after lived there in Johannesburg with her family.
A portrait in oil of Alexander, painted to commemorate his 80th birthday by the Australian artist Colin Colahan, was shown on the BBC's Antiques Roadshow programme in May 2013, when it was still in the possession of the son of the wife of his nephew.[81]
Libel case 1942–1948
The last decade of Alexander's life was dominated by a libel case, a drama drawn out over a period of seven years.[82]
Background
In 1935, Irene Tasker, one of Alexander's first students, arrived in
Examination in London
As witnesses on both sides were British, it was easier for evidence on both sides to be presented before a Commission in
Alexander's stroke
Alexander wanted to go, and booked a stateroom in a
In Court in Johannesburg
In February 1948 three of his medically qualified students, Dr Wilfred Barlow, F.R.S., Dr Dorothy Drew M.R.C.S (Eng), L.R.C.P (Lon) and Dr Mungo Douglas flew to Johannesburg to give evidence to the Court. Douglas did not give evidence: his place was taken by Norman Coaker, K.C. who lived in South Africa and, like Jokl, had seen Irene Tasker. There was great interest in the case. The papers reported all the proceedings, and every day the court was crowded.
On 14 February the case Alexander v. Jokl and others,
Dr Barlow was Alexander's first witness.
Mr Pirow, for the defence, proposed that his case was that the article (by Jokl and others) represented an evaluation of Alexander's four books, which claimed to set out the technique and its philosophy, and contained not only mainly testimonials and sales talk advertising the technique, but in regard to his alleged discoveries of conscious and/or primary control, claims and statements representing dangerous quackery.
Pirow was expert at persistent cross-questioning, throwing leading questions at all Alexander's witnesses. Pirow asked Dr. Barlow: "Do you seriously contend, in the matter of conscious control, that anyone following fully its principles would become entirely disease free?" Barlow: "No-one suggests that man will become immortal." "Let us leave immortality out of it, and get down to fundamentals. Are you, as a trained medical man, prepared to accept as a reasonable possibility the suggestion that by the carrying out of the exercises of psycho-physical guidance by way of conscious control, one can get complete immunity against disease?" – "It might be possible...animals living in a wild state when they come to the end of their days do not suffer from many of the prevalent diseases." "So that by following the technique man would become like an animal or buffalo?" – "I am merely giving you my impression about the diseases which affect animals." "Do you seriously suggest that, as a result of psycho-physical guidance under conscious control, resistance to infectious disease might be better?" – "Well, yes." And Barlow said it was from his own medical experience. Pirow asked what conscious control was, about inhibition and their effects, to which Barlow was able to give confident answers.
Witness Dr Dorothy Drew, a London doctor, had become a convert to the Alexander Technique because of the benefit she had found to herself after undergoing a course.[95] She had been injured in a car accident when she was a medical student, and during the war her health deteriorated. She had read Alexander's books in the war and became a pupil of Alexander's. At first she felt pain, but began to feel increasing benefit. Alexander's sole interest was in repairing her body mechanics, and her health had improved. She had sent about 200 patients to Alexander, supplementary to medical treatment: she always showed them his books and let them decide for themselves whether to see Alexander.
Norman Coaker, who had been present at Jokl's demonstration lesson with Irene Tasker, was the next witness for Alexander.[96] He described how his two sons had been helped by Alexander lessons: his second son with an injury from a fall onto stone, and his elder son with chronic bronchitis.
Irene Tasker was Alexander's last witness, and at one point she found it difficult to give evidence and face Pirow's cross-questioning.[97]
Dr Jokl himself was the last witness for the defence.[98]
The trial finished in March, and Mr Justice Clayden delivered his judgement over a month later.[99] Alexander was awarded £1000 damages plus costs.[100]
A year later the defendants appealed against the verdict and the damages. The appeal was dismissed with costs, and the tone of the judgment was worded more in approval of Alexander than it had been originally.
Final years
Alexander continued to work until his sudden death in 1955. His funeral was at South London Crematorium, Streatham Vale.[101] The practice at 16 Ashley Place was taken over by one of his assistants, Patrick Macdonald.
Famous pupils
Philosopher and education reformer John Dewey, who wrote about both his experience as a student of F.M. Alexander and about the importance of Alexander's work in introductions to three of Alexander's books: Man's Supreme Inheritance (in edition published in 1918),[102] Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual (in original publication in 1923),[103] and The Use of the Self (in original publication in 1932).[104]
Cartoonist and illustrator Ronald Searle made an original drawing of F. M. Alexander, signed and with the comment "Ronald Searle 1953. For F. M. from the reconstituted artist, with thanks," Reproduced in F. M. Alexander's The Universal Constant in Living (Mouritz, 2000, London).
Actor Harry Brodribb Irving, son of Henry Irving, autographed a photo "To F. M. Alexander for his ... ? 1907".
Actress Viola Tree (1885–1938, daughter of Herbert Beerbohm Tree),[105] autographed a full-length photo "To Matthias Alexander with many thanks from Viola Tree 1909".
Other actors who consulted him were Constance Collier, Oscar Asche and Matheson Lang.[106]
While living and working in South Africa, Professor Raymond Dart, along with his two children, had lessons in the Alexander Technique.[107]
The English novelist Aldous Huxley was strongly influenced by F. M. Alexander and included him as a character in his 1936 pacifist theme novel Eyeless in Gaza.[a]
Gertrude Stein's brother Leo called the Technique "the method for keeping your eye on the ball applied to life".[109]
The conservative philosopher and artist
Moshé Feldenkrais had lessons with Alexander.
Politician Sir Stafford Cripps, at the time he was British Chancellor of the Exchequer, consulted Alexander. He and his wife Dame Isobel Cripps were both his supporters.
General Sir
In 1945,
Alexander celebrated his 70th birthday in the company of Lord Lytton.[115]
In 1973 Nikolaas Tinbergen devoted about half of his Nobel Prize acceptance speech to a very favorable description of the Alexander technique and its benefits, including references to scientific evaluations. Tinbergen and his family had been students of the technique.[116]
Publications
The books of F. Matthias Alexander exist in many editions, being reprinted and revised, published in the UK and US, and not all editions are shown.
- Man's Supreme Inheritance, Methuen (UK, 1910), Paul R. Reynolds (US, 1910).
- Conscious Control: In Relation to Human Evolution in Civilization, Methuen (UK, 1912). Republished by Alexander Technique Centre Ireland (2015).
- Man's Supreme Inheritance: Conscious Guidance and Control in Relation to Human Evolution in Civilization, E. P. Dutton (US, 1918), Methuen (UK, 1918). The first two books combined, with revisions and additions. Later editions 1941 and 1946, scholarly edition Mouritz (UK, 1996, reprinted 2002, ISBN 0-9525574-0-1)
- Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual, E. P. Dutton (US, 1923), Methuen (UK, 1924), revised 1946, scholarly edition Mouritz (UK, 2004, ISBN 0-9543522-6-2)
- The Use of the Self, E. P. Dutton (US, 1932), Methuen (UK, 1932), republished by Orion Publishing, 2001, ISBN 9780752843919
- The Universal Constant in Living, E. P. Dutton (US, 1941), Chaterson (UK, 1942), later editions 1943, 1946, scholarly edition Mouritz (UK, 2000, ISBN 0-9525574-4-4)
- Articles and Lectures, Mouritz (UK, 1995 – A posthumous compilation of articles, published letters and lectures – ISBN 978-0952557463)
References
Notes
Citations
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 10, 14–15
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 10–15
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 10, 24
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 10–15
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 17–18
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 18, 37, 44
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 18
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 15, 18–19, 22
- ^ a b c d Gelb 1995, pp. 9–11.
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 18, 21–22
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 20
- ^ a b Bloch 2004, p. 21
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 22–3
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 24
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 25–7
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 26
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 26–7
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 27
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 29–30
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 30–31
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 32
- ^ a b Bloch 2004, pp. 31
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 34–35
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 36
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 36–37
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 37–39
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 39–41
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 41–42
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 42–44
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 44–6
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 46, 55, 82
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 46–9
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 49–52, 56
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 52
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 57
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 55–61
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 61–65
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 66–70
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 73, 79–80
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 71–78
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 55, 82–83
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 82
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 85–86
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 87–88
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 92
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 92–93
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 93–94
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 95–96
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 96
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 98, 100–04, 111, 121
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 103–04
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 106–08
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 108–10
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 112–117
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 117
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 118
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 119
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 119–20
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 120–21
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 95, 120
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 120
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 105, 120
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 120, 122
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 123
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 126
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 123–26
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 127
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 128
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 127–28
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 130–31
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 140–41
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 140
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 131–32, 154–5
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 154–56
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 132–33
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 133–36
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 136–38
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 138–40
- ^ Westfeldt 1964, p. 48.
- ^ Bloch 2004, p. 147
- ^ "Stowe House 2". Antiques Roadshow. Series 35. Episode 23. 19 May 2013. BBC Television. Retrieved 19 May 2013.
- ^ Bloch 2004, Ch.7.
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 197
- ^ The Alexander Principle in Education, an address given for the Montessori Society at the College of Education, Johannesburg, July 1988
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 198
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 199
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 202
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 206
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 209
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 217
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 218
- ^ Johannesburg newspapers The Star and Rand Daily Mail 16 February 1948 – 4 March 1948
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 219
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 220
- ^ a b Bloch 2004, pp. 221.
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 222
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 223
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 224
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 226
- ^ Bloch 2004, pp. 227
- ^ The Times 12 October 1955
- ^ Alexander 1918.
- ^ Alexander 1946, pp. XXV–XXXII.
- ^ Alexander 1942, pp. 7–12.
- ^ "Shakespeare and the Players: Viola Tree". Archived from the original on 10 September 2006. Retrieved 26 July 2008.
- ^ "Obituary". The Times. London. 11 October 1955.
- ^ Macdonald 1998, p. 88.
- ^ Huxley 1936.
- ^ Gelb 1995, p. 2.
- ^ Ludovici 1961.
- ^ Fischer 1998, pp. 102–108.
- ^ "Anthony M. Ludovici (1882–1971)". An Alexander Technique Notebook.
- ^ "Paid Notice: Deaths MAISEL, EDWARD". The New York Times. 30 March 2008.
- ^ Alexander 1969, pp. viii–lii.
- ^ Macdonald 1998, p. 103.
- ^ Tinbergen 1973, pp. 122-.
Sources
- Alexander, F. Matthias (1918) [1910]. Man's supreme inheritance. E.P. Dutton & Company.
- Alexander, F. Matthias (1946) [1923]. Constructive Conscious Control of the Individual. Chaterson.
- Alexander, F. Matthias (1942) [1932]. The Use of the Self. Dutton.
- Alexander, F. Matthias (1969). Maisel, Edward (ed.). The Resurrection of the Body: The Writings of F. Matthias Alexander. University Books.
- Bloch, Michael (2004). F.M. The Life of Frederick Matthias Alexander. Little, Brown Book Group. ISBN 978-0-316-86048-2.
- Fischer, Jean M. O., ed. (1998). The Philosopher's Stone: Diaries of Lessons with F. Matthias Alexander. Mouritz. ISBN 978-0-9525574-8-7.
- Gelb, Michael (1995) [1981]. Body Learning: An Introduction to the Alexander Technique (2nd ed.). New York: Henry Holt and Company. ISBN 978-0-8050-4206-1.
- ISBN 9780701108007.
- Ludovici, Anthony M. (1961). Religion for Infidels. London: Holborn. Excerpts reprinted as Ludovici, Anthony M. (1998). "How I came to have lessons with F. M. Alexander". In Jean M. O. Fischer (ed.). The Philosopher's Stone: Diaries of Lessons with F. Matthias Alexander. London: Mouritz. pp. 102–108.
- Macdonald, Glynn (1998). The Complete Illustrated Guide to the Alexander Technique. Barnes & Noble. ISBN 0-7607-1178-X.
- Tinbergen, Nikolaas (12 December 1973). "Ethology and Stress Diseases" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 27 March 2009.
- Westfeldt, Lulie (1964). F. Matthias Alexander: The Man and His Work. George Allen & Unwin.
Further reading
- Barker, Sarah, The Alexander Technique, Bantam Books (New York, 1978) ISBN 0-553-14976-8
- Barlow, Wilfred, The Alexander Principle, Victor Gollancz Ltd. (London, 1990) ISBN 0-575-04749-6
- The Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique Christopher Stevens The Development of the Alexander Technique and Evidence for its Effects, (STAT, 1997). An article summarising early investigations into the Alexander Technique and attempts to identify methods to measure its effects.
- Bowden, George C, F. Matthias Alexander and The Creative Advance of the Individual, L. N. Fowler & Co. Ltd. (London, 1965)
- Evans, Jackie, Frederick Matthias Alexander – A Family History, Phillimore & Co (UK, 2001) ISBN 1-86077-178-5
- STAT (Society of Teachers of the Alexander Technique), The Alexander Journal (Issues 1-21 published at irregular intervals in the years 1962–2006)
External links
Quotations related to F. Matthias Alexander at Wikiquote
- Works by F. Matthias Alexander at LibriVox (public domain audiobooks)