Record Number: 5420
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
"Now I began to think that the crown of all desire, and the sum of all existence, was to read and get knowledge. Read, read, read! I used to read at all possible times, and in all possible places; up in bed till two or three in the morning, - nothing daunted by once setting the bed on fire. Greatly indebted was I also to the bookstalls, where I have read a great deal, often folding a leaf in a book, and returning the next day to continue the subject; but sometimes the book was gone, and then great was my grief! When out of a situation, I have often gone without a meal to purchase a book."
Century:1800-1849
Date:Between 1833 and 1851
Country:England
Timedaytime
Place:city: London
other location: at bookstalls
(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:Unknown
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:29 May 1828
Socio-Economic Group:Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder
Occupation:Chartist poet and prose writer; at the time errand boy
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[books]
Genre:Unknown
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceread in situ
Source Information:
Record ID:5420
Source:Gerald Massey
Editor:Samuel Smiles
Title:Poetical Works
Place of Publication:n/a
Date of Publication:1861
Vol:n/a
Page:xii
Additional Comments:
The quotation comes from Samuel Smiles' introduction to Massey's "Poetical Works", entitled "A Biographical Sketch of Gerald Massey, 1851 (when he was only 23)". Smiles is here quoting Massey himself, though the source is not attributed.
Citation:
Gerald Massey, Samuel Smiles (ed.), Poetical Works (1861), p. xii, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=5420, accessed: 19 April 2024
Additional Comments:
None
