Record Number: 22069

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'[Johnson said] "I remember a passage in Goldsmith's "Vicar of Wakefield", which he was afterwards fool enough to expunge: 'I do not love a man who is zealous for nothing'." BOSWELL. "That was a fine passage". JOHNSON. "Yes, Sir: there was another fine passage too, which he struck out: 'When I was a young man, being anxious to distinguish myself, I was perpetually starting new propositions. But I soon gave this over; for, I found that generally what was new was false'."'

Century:

Date:

Until: 26 Mar 1779

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Samuel Johnson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

18 Sep 1709

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

n/a

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Oliver Goldsmith

Title:

Vicar of Wakefield

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (other)
presumably shown by the author, before publication

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Source Information:

Record ID:

22069

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R.W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

1012

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 1012, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=22069, accessed: 25 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791.