Record Number: 28409

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

[From letter to Clement Shorter from the niece of John Nunn:] 'In 1857 I was staying with Mr Nunn at Thorndon, in Suffolk, of which place he was rector. The good man had never read a novel in his life, and of course had never heard of the famous Bronte books. I was reading Mrs Gaskell's Life [of Charlotte Bronte] with absorbed interest, and one day my uncle said, "I have heard lately a name mentioned with which I was well familiar. What is it all about?" He was told, when he added, "Patrick Bronte [father of Charlotte] was once my greatest friend. Next morning my uncle brought out a thick bundle of letters and said, "These were written by Patrick Bronte. They refer to his spiritual state. I have read them once more, and now I destroy them."'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1857 and 31 Dec 1857

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Thorndon
county: Suffolk

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:

anon

Age:

Unknown

Gender:

Female

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:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Elizabeth Gaskell

Title:

Life of Charlotte Bronte

Genre:

Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

28409

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington

Title:

The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

I-II

Page:

5 n.3

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington (ed.), The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondence (Oxford, 1980), I-II, p. 5 n.3, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=28409, accessed: 29 March 2023

---

Additional Comments:

John Nunn had become friends with Patrick Bronte when both were students at St John's College, Cambridge; see p.5 in source.