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

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Record Number: 1282


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Henry Mayhew interviews a penny mouse-trap maker (cripple): "I found books often lull my pain... I can't afford them no, for I have no wish to incur any extraneous expense, while the weight of the labour lies on my family more than it does on myself. Over and over again, when I have been in acute pain with my thigh, a scientific book, or a work on history, or a volume of travels, would carry my thoughts far away ...I always had love of solid works. For an hour's light reading, I have often turned to a work of imagination, such as Milton's Paradise Lost, and Shakespeare's plays; but I prefer science to poetry... I think it is solely due to my taste for mechanics and my love of reading scientific books that I am able to live so comfortably as I do in my affliction."

Century:

1800-1849, 1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1840 and 31 Dec 1859

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: Bethnal Green
location in dwelling: at his lodgings

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:

anon

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

penny mouse-trap maker

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

n/a

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

John Milton

Title:

Paradise Lost

Genre:

Classics, Y

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

1282

Source:

Print

Author:

Henry Mayhew

Editor:

n/a

Title:

London Labour and the London Poor

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1861

Vol:

3

Page:

22

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor (London, 1861), 3, p. 22, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=1282, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
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