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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: 23107


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

John Tyndall to Hallam Tennyson (1893): 'You were not born when the influence [of Alfred Tennyson] in my case began. Fifty years ago, in the sixth chapter of Carlyle's Past and Present I found the line: "There dwells the great Achilles whom we knew"; 'to which was attached a footnote referring the line to Tennyson [...] This footnote assured me that Tennyson was a poet whose acquaintance must be made without delay. Not very long afterwards, two young men might have been seen eagerly engaged upon a volume, in the corner of a modest hotel in St Martin's Court, Covent Garden. The one read, the other listened. The one, after a life of usefulness and honour, was snatched from us last year by influenza, and now lies in Highgate Cemetery, the other remains to record the fact. The book in which my friend Hirst and I were then absorbed was entitled "Poems by Alfred Tennyson."'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1842 and 31 Dec 1842

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

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:

John Tyndall

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

Aug 1820

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Technical draughtsman employed by British government land surveying agency

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Ireland

Country of Experience:

n/a

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Thomas Carlyle

Title:

Past and Present

Genre:

Essays / Criticism, History

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

23107

Source:

Print

Author:

Hallam Tennyson

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1897

Vol:

2

Page:

470

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son (London, 1897), 2, p. 470, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=23107, accessed: 19 April 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
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