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
  RED International Logo

RED Australia logo


RED Canada logo
RED Netherlands logo
RED New Zealand logo

Record Number: 12077


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

?I was seized last night with a violent pain in my head (fortunately, just as I had concluded my month?s work), and was immediately ordered as much medicine as would confine an ordinary-sized horse to his stall for a week. Whether it arises from the ?influentials?, or from close application, or from worry, or from the wind cholic, to quote King Arthur, I know not; but this I know-that surely against my will, much to my disappointment, here I am, and in a gloomy and miserable state, here I must remain.?

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

evening: Tuesday

Place:

city: London
specific address: Furnivals Inn

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:

Charles Dickens

Age:

Unknown

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

7 Feb 1812

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

Journalist/ Novelist

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Henry Fielding

Title:

The Tragedy of Tragedies; or, The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great

Genre:

Fiction, Essays / Criticism, History

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

12077

Source:

Print

Author:

Charles Dickens

Editor:

Madeline House

Title:

The letters of Charles Dickens: Volume 1: 1828-1839

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1965

Vol:

1

Page:

228

Additional Comments:

Graham Storey ed. Published by Clarendon Press as the Pilgrim edition.

Citation:

Charles Dickens, Madeline House (ed.), The letters of Charles Dickens: Volume 1: 1828-1839 (Oxford, 1965), 1, p. 228, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=12077, accessed: 16 April 2024


Additional Comments:

Letter to T.J. Culliford [CD?s maternal great-uncle.] [Note 3: ?In Fielding?s The Tragedy of Tragedies; or, The Life and Death of Tom Thumb the Great, I, iii, King Arthur says ?I feel a sudden pain across my breast. | Nor Know I whether it proceed from love | Or the wind cholic.??

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design