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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
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Record Number: 10052


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

[Item transcribed into a commonplace book]: [Title] 'England'; [text] 'The late excellent Dr Clark thus apostrophizes his/ native country in the last volume of his travels & few/ men have seen more of the world'. 'Oh England! decent abode of comfort and /cleanliness, & decorum! Oh blessed assylum of all/ that is worth having upon earth ? Where'er I roam, whatever realms I see/ My heart, untravelled, fondly turns to thee' [total =15 lines of extract with 3 lines of introduction. The final two lines are from 'The traveller' by Oliver Goldsmith. It is uinclear whether they are in Clark's text or are added]

Century:

1800-1849, 1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1810 and 31 Dec 1871

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

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:

Magdalene Sharpe- Erskine

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

1787

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Daughter of a Scottish land owning family

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

n/a

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

Identity of reader is tentative



Text Being Read:

Author:

Dr Clark

Title:

[unknown]

Genre:

Geography / Travel

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

10052

Source:

Manuscript

Author:

Magdalene Sharpe- Erskine

Title:

Recueil

Location:

Dunimarle Library at Duff House

Call No:

DH LIB 2024

Page/Folio:

Item 19

Citation:

Magdalene Sharpe- Erskine, Recueil Dunimarle Library at Duff House, p. DH LIB 2024, p. Item 19, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=10052, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

A commonplace book containing 69 items, mainly in one hand. On the basis of writing style, nature of contents, dates of entries (1827-1871) and of the material selected (mainly poets from the late 18th to mid-19th century), and the watermark date (1810), the most likely identity of the main hand is Magdalene Sharpe-Erskine, the youngest child of the main generation who collected the Dunimarle Library. Fourteen of the items are exclusively or mainly prose, the rest are poetry. Most are in English. About half the items are given, by the complier, as anonymous and about a third have no title. In each case some 6 have been identified from other sources.

   
   
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