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the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

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Record Number: 20920


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'On Tuesday the 5th of July, I again visited Johnson. He told me he had looked into the poems of a pretty voluminous writer, Mr. (now Dr.) John Ogilvie, one of the Presbyterian ministers of Scotland, which had lately come out, but could find no thinking in them. Boswell. "Is there not imagination in them, Sir?" Johnson. "Why, Sir, there is in them what [italics] was [end italics] imagination, but it is no more imagination in [italics] him [end italics] than sound is sound in the echo. And his diction too is not his own. We have long ago seen [italics] white-robed innocence [end italics] and [italics] flower-bespangled meads[end italics]".'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

Until: 5 Jul 1763

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London

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:

Samuel Johnson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

18 Sep 1709

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

Anglican

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:

John Ogilvie

Title:

[poems]

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

20920

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R.W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

298

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 298, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=20920, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791.

   
   
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