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

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Record Number: 20696


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'In this [producing a biography of Johnson] he has not been very successful, as I have found upon a perusal of those papers, which have been since transferred to me. Sir John Hawkins's ponderous labours, I must acknowledge, exhibit a [italics] farrago [end italics], of which a considerable portion is not devoid of entertainment to the lovers of literary gossiping; but besides its being swelled out with long unnecessary extracts from various works [...], a very small part of it relates to the person who is the subject of the book; and, in that, there is such an inaccuracy in the statement of facts, as in so solemn an author is hardly excusable, and certainly makes his narrative very unsatisfactory'.

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1784 and 31 Dec 1791

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:

James Boswell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 Oct 1740

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

lawyer and author

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Samuel Johnson

Title:

[papers left at his death]

Genre:

Unknown

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

20696

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R. W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

20

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R. W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson  (Oxford, 1980), p. 20, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=20696, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791.

   
   
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