Record Number: 28472

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

[W. M. Thackeray to W. S. Williams, 23 October 1847:] 'I wish you had not sent me Jane Eyre. It interested me so much that I have lost (or won if you like) a whole day in reading it at the busiest period with the printers I know wailing for copy. Who the author can be I can't guess, if a woman she knows her language better than most ladies do, or has had a "classical" education. It is a fine book though, the man and woman capital, the style very generous and upright so to speak. I thought it was Kinglake for some time. The plot of the story is one with wh. I am familiar. Some of the love passages made me cry, to the astonishment of John, who came in with the coals. St John the missionary is a failure I think but a good failure, there are parts excellent [...] I have been exceedingly moved and pleased by Jane Eyre. It is a woman's writing, but whose? Give my respects and thanks to the author, whose novel is the first English one (and the French are only romances now) that I've been able to read for many a day.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Oct 1847 and 23 Oct 1847

Country:

England

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:

William Makepeace Thackeray

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

18 Jul 1811

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

India

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Charlotte Bronte

Title:

Jane Eyre

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1847

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

28472

Source:

Print

Author:

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:

II:149

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. II:149, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=28472, accessed: 20 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

None