Record Number: 20699
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'There is, in the British Museum, a letter from Bishop Warburton to Dr Birch, on the subject of biography; which, though I am aware it may expose me to a charge of artfully raising the value of my own work, by contrasting it with that of which I have spoken, is so well conceived and expressed, that I cannot refrain from here inserting it: [the letter follows, including this passage] "Almost all the life-writers we have had before Toland and Desmaiseaux, are indeed strange inspid creatures; and yet I had rather read the worst of them, than be obliged to go through with this of Milton's, or the other's life of Boileau, where there is such a dull, heavy succession of long quotations of disinteresting passages, that it makes their method quite nauseous".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 31 Dec 1791
Country:n/a
Timen/a
Place:n/a
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:n/a
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:n/a
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:n/a
Country of Experience:n/a
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Life of John Milton
Genre:Biography
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:20699
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R. W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:21
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R. W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 21, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=20699, accessed: 02 April 2023
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.
