Record Number: 11369

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Maybe to neutralise the Penny Dreadful, Cassells brought out the Penny Classics. These had a bluish-green cover and were world famous novels in abridged form, but sixty or seventy pages. And W.T. Stead brought out the Penny Poets. The covers of these were pimply surface-paper, a bright orange colour, and they contained selections from Longfellow, Tennyson, Keats, and many others. I first read "Hiawatha" and "Evangeline" in the Penny Poets and thought them marvellous; so marvellous that I began to write 'poetry' myself. Stead also brought out another penny book; this had a pink cover and contained selections from the ancient classics: stories from Homer, the writings of Pliny the younger, Aesop's "Fables". I took a strong fancy to Aesop, he was a Greek slave from Samos, in the sixth century BC, and workpeople were only just beginning to be called "wage slaves". I read all these; non-selective and Catholic my reading...'

Century:

1850-1899, 1900-1945

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Joseph Stamper

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

ironmoulder, later writer

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Homer

Title:

[unknown]

Genre:

Classics, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

W.T. Stead series

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

11369

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Stamper

Editor:

n/a

Title:

So long ago

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1960

Vol:

n/a

Page:

162

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Joseph Stamper, So long ago, (London, 1960), p. 162, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=11369, accessed: 28 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

None