Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 1826


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'[the father of Harry Burton] 'an irregularly employed housepainter, liked a "stirring novel" but nothing more challenging than Conan Doyle: "He had no use whatever for anything remotely approaching the spiritual in art, literature or music...", and yet the whole family rea and, on some level, took pleasure in sharing and discussing their reading. His mother recited serials from the Family Reader and analyzed them at length with grandma over a cup of tea. Every few minutes his father would offer up a snippet from the Daily Chronicle or Lloyd's Weekly News. The children were not discouraged from reading aloud, perhaps from Jules Verne: "I can smell to this day the Journey to the Centre of the Earth", Burton recalled. The whole family made use of the public library and enjoyed together children's magazines like Chips and The Butterfly'.

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1900 and 31 Dec 1914

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London

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:

Burton

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

housepainter

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

family


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Title:

Lloyd's Weekly News

Genre:

Ephemera

Form of Text:

Print: Newspaper

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

1826

Source:

Print

Author:

Jonathan Rose

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

2001

Vol:

n/a

Page:

87-8

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 87-8, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=1826, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

See H.M. Burton, 'There was a Young Man' (London, 1958)

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design