Record Number: 20258
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I am all right. I am reading law, and writing beautiful poems in prose. […]Do write, son of perdition, do write. I cannot, owing to poetical (prose poetical) afflatus, Civil Law, and a kind of nondescript incapacity that weighs upon me.'
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between 1 May 1875 and 31 May 1875
Country:Scotland
Timemorning
afternoon
evening
daytime
night
city: Edinburgh
county: Lothian
specific address: Swanston Cottage, Lothianburn, Edinburgh and 17 Heriot Row
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:13 Nov 1850
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Aspiring writer and intermittent law student
Religion:Uncommitted
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:Scotland
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:law books
Genre:Law
Form of Text:Print: Book, Textbooks on Scottish Law, including Civil Law.
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:20258
Source:Robert Louis Stevenson
Editor:Bradford A. Booth
Title:The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879
Place of Publication:New Haven and London
Date of Publication:1994
Vol:2
Page:139
Additional Comments:
Letter 392, To Sidney Colvin [Late May 1875], Swanston Cottage. Co-editor Ernest Mehew. The date in square brackets has been added by the editors.
Citation:
Robert Louis Stevenson, Bradford A. Booth (ed.), The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879, (New Haven and London, 1994), 2, p. 139, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20258, accessed: 04 November 2024
Additional Comments:
RLS is reading in preparation for the imminent Edinburgh University Final Examinations at which he will (just) qualify as Advocate, on the strength of which fact he will be called to the Scottish Bar, though he will not practise.