Record Number: 21714
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'He [Johnson] was much diverted with an article which I shewed him in the "Critical Review" of this year, giving an account of a curious publication, entitled, "A Spiritual Diary and Soliloquies", by John Rutty, M.D. Dr. Rutty was one of the people called Quakers, a physician of some eminence in Dublin, and authour of several works. This Diary, which was kept from 1753 to 1775, the year in which he died, and was now published in two volumes octavo, exhibited, in the simplicity of his heart, a minute and honest register of the state of his mind; which, though frequently laughable enough, was not more so than the history of many men would be, if recorded with equal fairness.'
Century:1700-1799
Date:19 Sep 1777
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: Ashbourne
county: Derbyshire
(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:29 Oct 1740
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:writer and lawyer
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: Title:Critical Review
Genre:Essays / Criticism
Form of Text:Print: Serial / periodical
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:21714
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R.W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:852
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 852, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=21714, accessed: 03 October 2023
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791. Not certain if either Johnson or Boswell read the book being reviewed. Extracts of the review are reproduced.
