Record Number: 14154

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'When I first ventured to write a sentence for publication, having a deep sense of my profound ignorance of the rules of punctuation, I applied myself to the study of Lindley Murray's grammar -- then the one accepted authority for English people. He gave seventeen rules for the right placing of the comma, and I thought it my duty to endeavour to master them. But my patience did not hold out [...] I threw aside the seventeen rules of punctuation, and in their stead placed on one mental page the simple definitions of the respective values of periods, colons, semi-colons, and commas which I had learnt as a child, and then took which ever common sense and observation pointed out as suitable to my purpose; and in the end I found that I had escaped any special criticism.'

Century:

1800-1849

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:

Elizabeth Missing Sewell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

19 Feb 1815

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Teacher/Writer

Religion:

Church of England

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:

Lindley Murray

Title:

English grammar

Genre:

Textbook / self-education

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

14154

Source:

Print

Author:

Elizabeth Missing Sewell

Editor:

n/a

Title:

'The Reign of Pedantry in Girls' Schools' (article in The Nineteenth Century)

Place of Publication:

n/a

Date of Publication:

1888

Vol:

23

Page:

218

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Elizabeth Missing Sewell, 'The Reign of Pedantry in Girls' Schools' (article in The Nineteenth Century), (1888), 23, p. 218, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=14154, accessed: 03 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

None