Record Number: 18284

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have heard of nothing good in the literary way; but I read three volumes yesterday of the strangest, dullest, and most incomprehensible trash imaginable, two or three passages in which made me laugh above measure, owing solely (I verily believe) to the writer's being half a fool and half a madwoman. It is the life of Mrs Wells, a ci-devant actress; in which, among other things, she proves that the Duke of [-] has given himself a vast deal of unnecessary trouble; a thing of which I never should have suspected him. [Lewis then criticise Wells's way of writing about marriage, her debts, etc].'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: The Albany

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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Matthew Lewis

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

9 Jul 1775

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Mary Wells

Title:

Memoirs of the Life of Mrs. Sumbel, Late Wells; of the Theatres- Royal, Drury-Lane, Covent-Garden, and Haymarket: Including Her Correspondence

Genre:

Autobiog / Diary

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

18284

Source:

Print

Author:

Lady Charlotte Bury

Editor:

A. Francis Steuart

Title:

Diary of a Lady-in-Waiting, The

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1908

Vol:

I

Page:

84

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Lady Charlotte Bury, A. Francis Steuart (ed.), Diary of a Lady-in-Waiting, The (London, 1908), I, p. 84, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=18284, accessed: 19 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Letter from Lewis to her is included in Charlotte Bury's diary. Dated Nov. 20th but year unclear, probably 1812 as that is the year another book referred to in the letter appeared.