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

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Record Number: 25749


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'This ["The Eldest Son"] is extremely fine [...]. At the end of each act I got up and walked for a while in a sort of exultation over the sheer art of the thing.' After approximately 25 lines of praise and constructive criticism, Conrad adds '[...]I am writing after a second reading.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 17 Jul 1909 and 18 Jul 1909

Country:

England

Time

evening
daytime

Place:

city: Aldington, Nr Hythe
county: Kent
specific address: Forehead

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:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Master mariner and author

Religion:

originally Polish Catholic, by now agnostic/atheist

Country of Origin:

Poland

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

John Galsworthy

Title:

The Eldest Son

Genre:

Drama

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Unknown

Publication Details

1912

Provenance

n/a


Source Information:

Record ID:

25749

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Conrad

Editor:

Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies

Title:

The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911

Place of Publication:

Cambridge

Date of Publication:

1990

Vol:

4

Page:

255-6

Additional Comments:

Letter from Joseph Conrad to John Galsworthy,dated 18 July 1909, Aldington.

Citation:

Joseph Conrad, Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies (ed.), The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911 (Cambridge, 1990), 4, p. 255-6, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=25749, accessed: 20 April 2024


Additional Comments:

Internal evidence from this source and a letter the previous day (p.255 of source text) allows the time of these two reading experiences to be placed fairly precisely as the evening of 17 July and the very late evening of 18 July 1909.

   
   
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