Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
  RED International Logo

RED Australia logo


RED Canada logo
RED Netherlands logo
RED New Zealand logo

Record Number: 6995


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

?Another great book which I bought in those days was Gibbon?s "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (Bohn?s edition in seven volumes). Relative to my means, the price was rather stiff, but by getting one volume at a time, as I could afford to pay for it, this difficulty was surmounted. ? Vividly do I remember bringing the final volume home. With youthful glee I read till a late hour. I slept little that night; the book haunted my dreams. I awoke about four on the bright summer Sunday morning and went into the fields to read till breakfast-time. The stately, majestic march of Gibbon?s periods had some attraction for me even then; but the "Decline and Fall", it must be admitted, was hard reading for an unlettered collier lad. Yet I plodded on until I had finished the book which, besides its direct teachings, brought me many indirect advantages.?

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1850 and 31 Dec 1857

Country:

England

Time

morning: 4am
evening
night

Place:

county: Northumberland or Durham?
other location: fields near home

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:

Thomas Burt

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

12 Nov 1837

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

pitman, later MP

Religion:

Methodist

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:

Edward Gibbon

Title:

Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

Genre:

History

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Bohn's edition in 7 volumes

Provenance

owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

6995

Source:

Print

Author:

Thomas Burt

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Thomas Burt, M. P., D. C. L., pitman & privy councillor : an autobiography

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1904

Vol:

n/a

Page:

118-9

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Thomas Burt, Thomas Burt, M. P., D. C. L., pitman & privy councillor : an autobiography (London, 1904), p. 118-9, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/RED/record_details.php?id=6995, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design