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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: 18261


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Sunday 8 December 1929: 'It was the Elizabethan prose writers I loved first & most wildly, stirred by Hakluyt, which father lugged home [from library] for me [...] He must have been 65; I 15 or 16, then; & why I dont know, but I became enraptured, though not exactly interested, but the sight of the large yellow page entranced me. I used to read it & dream of those obscure adventurers, & no doubt practised their style in my copy books. I was then writing a long picturesque essay upon the Christian religion, I think; called Religio Laici, I believe [...] & I also wrote a history of Women; & a history of my own family -- all very longwinded & El[izabe]than in style.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 25 Jan 1897 and 25 Jan 1899

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:

Virginia Stephen

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

25 Jan 1882

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

agnostic

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:

Richard Hakluyt

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Geography / Travel

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (other)


Source Information:

Record ID:

18261

Source:

Print

Author:

VIrginia Woolf

Editor:

Anne Olivier Bell

Title:

The Diary of Virginia Woolf

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

3

Page:

271

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

VIrginia Woolf, Anne Olivier Bell (ed.), The Diary of Virginia Woolf (London, 1980), 3, p. 271, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=18261, accessed: 23 April 2024


Additional Comments:

Source ed. notes, regarding 'longwinded' writings listed by Woolf: 'Nothing remains of these juvenile works' (p.271 n.3).

   
   
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