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the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 18120


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Wednesday 15 February 1922: 'Of my reading I will now try to make some note. 'First Peacock; Nightmare Abbey, & Crotchet Castle. Both are so much better than I remember. Doubtless, Peacock is a taste acquired in maturity. When I was young, reading him in a railway carriage in Greece, sitting opposite Thoby [Woolf, reader's brother], I remember, who pleased me immensely by approving my remark that Meredith had got his women from Peacock [...] And now more than anything I want beautiful prose [...] And I enjoy satire more. I like the scepticism of his mind more [...] And then they're so short; & I read them in little yellowish perfectly appropriate first editions. 'The masterly Scott has me by the hair once more. Old Mortality. I'm in the middle; & have to put up with some dull sermons; but I doubt he can be dull, because everything is so much in keeping [goes on to comment further on text]'.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 6 Feb 1922 and 15 Feb 1922

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


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Virginia Woolf

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

25 Jan 1882

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

agnostic

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Walter Scott

Title:

Old Mortality

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

18120

Source:

Print

Author:

Virginia Woolf

Editor:

Anne Olivier Bell

Title:

The Diary of Virginia Woolf

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1978

Vol:

2

Page:

164

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Virginia Woolf, Anne Olivier Bell (ed.), The Diary of Virginia Woolf, (London, 1978), 2, p. 164, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=18120, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
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