Evidence: | 'Before dinner Dr. Johnson seized upon Mr. Charles Sheridan's "Account of the late Revolution in Sweden", and seemed to read it ravenously, as if he devoured it, which was to all appearance his method of studying. "He knows how to read better than any one (said Mrs. Knowles;) he gets at the substance of a book directly; he tears out the heart of it". He kept it wrapt up in the tablecloth in his lap during the time of dinner, from an avidity to have one entertainment in readiness when he should have finished another; resembling (if I may use so coarse a simile) a dog who holds a bone in his paws in reserve, while he eats something else which has been thrown to him.'
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Century: | 1700-1799 | ||||||||||
Date: | 15 Apr 1778 | ||||||||||
Country: | n/a | ||||||||||
Time: | daytime: before and during dinner | ||||||||||
Place: | other location: home of Mr Dilly | ||||||||||
Type of Experience (Reader): |
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Type of Experience (Listener): |
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Reader: | Samuel Johnson |
Age | Adult (18-100+) |
Gender | Male |
Date of Birth | 18 Sep 1709 |
Socio-economic group: | Professional / academic / merchant / farmer |
Occupation: | writer |
Religion: | Anglican |
Country of origin: | England |
Country of experience: | n/a |
Listeners present if any: (e.g. family, servants,
friends, workmates) |
n/a |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Author: | Charles Sheridan |
Title: | History of the late revolution in Sweden , A |
Genre: | History |
Form of Text: | Print: Book |
Publication details: | n/a |
Provenance: | borrowed (other) probably belonged to Mr Dilly |
Record ID: | 21810 | |
Source - | ||
Author: | James Boswell | |
Editor: | R.W. Chapman | |
Title: | Life of Johnson | |
Place of Publication: | Oxford | |
Date of Publication: | 1980 | |
Vol: | n/a | |
Page: | 942 | |
Additional comments: | n/a |
Citation: | James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson (Oxford, 1980), p. 942, http://can-red-lec.library.dal.ca/Arts/reading/recorddetails2.php?id=21810, accessed: 17 April 2024 |
Originally published 1791. |
Reading Experience Database version 2.0. Page updated: 27th Apr 2016 3:15pm (GMT)