Record Number: 16555
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Did [Benjamin Bell] write these verses? If so, he seems young at the art like us, but not without powers of doing better; dactyls are always difficult to manage, and his accordingly are but a kind of flash in the pan - no damage is done; but the other piece has a sort of pococurante [little-caring] air about it which looks more like genius and truth, and answers greatly better. Except the last stanza, they are good. If he is only about twenty years of age or so, he may cultivate poetry with considerable hope: if nearer thirty I advise him never to write another line.'
Century:1800-1849
Date:Between 24 Oct 1822 and 28 Oct 1822
Country:SCotland
Timen/a
Place:city: Edinburgh
Type of Experience(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:4 Dec 1795
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Writer / Academic
Religion:Lapsed Calvinist
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:SCotland
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Poems
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Manuscript: Sheet, Poems included in letter from Jane Baillie Welsh to TC
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Manuscript copy sent with letter
Source Information:
Record ID:16555
Source:Thomas Carlyle
Editor:C R Sanders
Title:The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle
Place of Publication:Durham, North Carolina
Date of Publication:1970
Vol:2
Page:184
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Thomas Carlyle, C R Sanders (ed.), The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle (Durham, North Carolina, 1970), 2, p. 184, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=16555, accessed: 23 March 2023
Additional Comments:
Taken from letter from TC to Jane Baillie Welsh, dated 28 October 1822 written at 3 Moray Street. Pages 183 - 190 in this edition. Dates of reading experience based on letter from JBW in which she enclosed the verses, and the date of TC's reply. Benjamin Bell was a friend of JBW's.
