Record Number: 17594

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have read some very delightful old books lately (for I now have just attained the wisdom to wish to make use of this ample library, and reject all borrowed or hired books) - Amongst others, two collections of letters, Sevigne's to her daughter, and Bussy Rabutin's to her and various others. The celebrity of these letters makes one ashamed to praise them; it is like saying Shakespear was a clever fellow: but I [underlined] will [end underlining] say, that their wit, their facility, their original humour; their arch simplicity, their every possible epistolary merit, surpass even their reputation. Having read a good many French Memoirs of that time, I enjoy the court details, and the scandal and gossip as much as Mde de Grignan could - and the witty stories occasionally inserted are [underlined] impayable [end underlining]. [SHB then describes at length the matter of some of the letters she has been reading, concluding...] It was a bright period for french intellects - Oh, how superior to the bright period of the Encyclopedists. at the time I am reading of, lived & wrote, Moliere, Corneille, Racine, La Rochfaucault [sic], Boilleau, celebrated Divines a million, and who were really good Christians; and Sevigne, and all her witty cluster of friends - and no jargon, & no frippery, & false philosophy among them - but sterling stuff, too good almost to be french'.

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Until: 1 Aug 1811

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: Chelsea College

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:

Sarah Harriet Burney

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

29 Aug 1772

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

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:

Roger de Rabutin, comte de Bussy

Title:

[letters]

Genre:

Autobiog / Diary, letters

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

6 volumes of the 1700 edition

Provenance

owned
in her father's library

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Source Information:

Record ID:

17594

Source:

Print

Author:

Sarah Harriet Burney

Editor:

Lorna J. Clark

Title:

Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, The

Place of Publication:

Athens GA / London

Date of Publication:

1997

Vol:

n/a

Page:

132

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Sarah Harriet Burney, Lorna J. Clark (ed.), Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, The, (Athens GA / London, 1997), p. 132, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=17594, accessed: 01 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

Letter to Charlotte Barrett, 1st Aug 1811.