Record Number: 17682

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

"I too am reading Mme de Staal [sic], and am such a Goth, that I catch myself yawning over it! Probably I am not formed to love "les plaisirs [underlined] dissertant [end underlining]." The book is like a long Review, and all about the same set of objects; and I tire for want of connection, and something either to interest my feelings or amuse my imagination. Yet, I have extracted some delightful, and some most wise little passages; and I read, though with fatigue, still with admiration, such a copious series of well-expressed reflections [...] I told my sister d'Arblay to-night, how glad I was that our best English writers, meaning Adison [sic], Swift, Johnson &c, had not written like Mde de Staal; for if they had, as sure as a gun, I should never have loved reading - I should never have opened a book. I have finished vol. I & shall probably read II and III, out of vanity, & just to say I have read them'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Until: 10 Nov 1813

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:

Anne Louise Germaine, Baronne de Stael-Holstein

Title:

De l'Allemagne

Genre:

Geography / Travel

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

17682

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:

172

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Sarah Harriet Burney, Lorna J. Clark (ed.), Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, The, (Athens GA / London, 1997), p. 172, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=17682, accessed: 04 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

Letter to Charlotte Barrett, 10th November 1813