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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 21286


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'He [George Gissing] recommended [in letters to his siblings] books like Morris's "Earthly Paradise", a poem "abounding in the quaintest archaisms"; Ruskin's "Unto this last", which Gissing liked as a "contribution to - or rather onslaught upon - Political Economy"; Landor's "Imaginary Conversations", for its "perfect prose"; and Scott's "Redgauntlet", for the romantic situations of which he must "try to find parallel kinds in modern life". Gissing kept up the habit throughout his life: he was always reading and always recommending books to his friends and family. In the early 1880s he read a lot of German, and to his brother, Algernon, particularly recommended Eckerman's "Conversations with Goethe", "a most delightful book". Meanwhile his sister, Margaret, was reading Schiller under his direction'.

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

From: 1 Jan 1885

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:

George Gissing

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

22 Nov 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

author

Religion:

none

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 Savage Landor

Title:

Imaginary Conversations

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

21286

Source:

Print

Author:

Michael Collie

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Alien Art. A Critical Study of George Gissing's Novels

Place of Publication:

Folkestone

Date of Publication:

1979

Vol:

n/a

Page:

43

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Michael Collie, The Alien Art. A Critical Study of George Gissing's Novels, (Folkestone, 1979), p. 43, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21286, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
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