Record Number: 28436
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
[Charlotte Bronte to William Wordsworth (in draft response to letter from him of c.1840):] 'I am sorry I did not exist, sir, fifty or sixty years ago, when the "Ladies' Magazine" was flourishing like a green bay tree. In that case, I make no doubt, my aspirations after literary fame would have met with due encouragement [...] I recollect, when I was a child, getting hold of some antiquated old volumes, and reading them by stealth with the most exquisite pleasure. You give a correct description [in letter] of the patent Grisels of those days. My aunt was one of them; and to this day she thinks the tales of the "Ladies' Magazine" infinitely superior to any trash of modern literature. So do I; for I read them in childhood, and childhood has a very strong faculty of admiration, but a very weak one of criticism'.
Century:1800-1849
Date:unknown
Country:England
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:Child (0-17)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:21 Apr 1816
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:n/a
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: Title:The Lady's Magazine
Genre:Fiction, Miscellany / Anthology
Form of Text:Print: Serial / periodical
Publication Details1780s-1790s
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:28436
Source:n/a
Editor:Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington
Title:The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondence
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:I-II
Page:211-212
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Thomas James Wise and John Alexander Symington (ed.), The Brontes: Their Lives, Friendships and Correspondence, (Oxford, 1980), I-II, p. 211-212, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=28436, accessed: 27 April 2024
Additional Comments:
Bronte had written to Wordsworth to ask his advice on writing fiction for publication, apparently enclosing an example of her work; see p.211 in source.
