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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 2816


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'"One advantage of leaving school at an early age is that one can study subjects of your own choice", wrote Frank Argent, son of a Camberwell labourer. Taking advantage of the public library and early Penguins, he ranged all over the intellectual landscape: Freudian psychology, industrial administration, English literature, political history, Blake, Goethe, Mill, Nietzsche, The Webbs, Bertrand Russell's Essays in Scepticism, and Spengler's "The Decline of the West".'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

unknown

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:

Frank Argent

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1899

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

later trade unionist and factory inspector

Religion:

n/a

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:

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Title:

n/a

Genre:

Fiction, Drama, Poetry, Philosophy, Science

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (public library)
or in a Penguin edition (owned?)


Source Information:

Record ID:

2816

Source:

Print

Author:

Jonathan Rose

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

2001

Vol:

n/a

Page:

162

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 162, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=2816, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

See Frank Argent, "No Medals for Frankie"; no further reference traceable in Rose.

   
   
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