Record Number: 21732
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I asked whether Prior's Poems were to be printed entire: Johnson said they were. I mentioned Lord Hailes's censure of Prior, in his Preface to a collection of "Sacred Poems", by various hands, published by him at Edinburgh a great many years ago, where he mentions, "those impure tales which will be the eternal opprobrium of their ingenious authour". JOHNSON. "Sir, Lord Hailes has forgot. There is nothing in Prior that will excite to lewdness. If Lord Hailes thinks there is, he must be more combustible than other people". I instanced the tale of Paulo Purganti and his Wife. JOHNSON. "Sir, there is nothing there, but that his wife wanted to be kissed when poor Paulo was out of pocket. No, Sir, Prior is a lady's book. No lady is ashamed to have it standing in her library".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 22 Sep 1777
Country:n/a
Timen/a
Place:n/a
Type of Experience(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:writer and lawyer
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:n/a
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[Poems]
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:21732
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R.W. Chapman
Title:Life of Boswell
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:869
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Boswell, (Oxford, 1980), p. 869, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21732, accessed: 20 September 2024
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791