Record Number: 20698
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'There is, in the B. Museum, a letter from Bishop Warburton to Dr Birch, on the subject of biography; which, though I am aware it may expose me to a charge of artfully raising the value of my own work, by contrasting it with that of which I have spoken, is so well conceived and expressed, that I cannot refrain from here inserting it: [the letter follows, including this passage] "Almost all the life-writers we have had before Toland and Desmaiseaux, are indeed strange inspid creatures; and yet I had rather read the worst of them, than be obliged to go through with this of Milton's, or the other's life of Boileau, where there is such a dull, heavy succession of long quotations of disinteresting passages, that it makes their method quite nauseous".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 31 Dec 1791
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: London
specific address: British Museum
(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:29 Oct 1740
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:lawyer and author
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[Letter to Thomas Birch]
Genre:letter
Form of Text:Manuscript: Letter
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceread in situ
Source Information:
Record ID:20698
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R. W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:21
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R. W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson , (Oxford, 1980), p. 21, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20698, accessed: 20 April 2024
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.
