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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 29001


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Later on he talked laughingly of the cheap editions he had been wont to buy of Mark Twain's masterpieces, and spoke reminiscently of reading these books when he was on the Congo.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between Jun 1890 and Dec 1890

Country:

Congo Free State (Belgian Congo)

Time

n/a

Place:

other location: on board steamship 'Roi des Belges'

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:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility

Occupation:

Master mariner

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

Poland

Country of Experience:

Congo Free State (Belgian Congo)

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Mark Twain

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

29001

Source:

Print

Author:

Jessie Conrad

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Joseph Conrad and His Circle

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1935

Vol:

n/a

Page:

252-3

Additional Comments:

Jessie Conrad recalling the text of an interview Conrad gave at the end of his American visit in 1923.

Citation:

Jessie Conrad, Joseph Conrad and His Circle, (London, 1935), p. 252-3, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=29001, accessed: 20 April 2024


Additional Comments:

Texts not specifically identified, though can be guessed at. There is no indication of reading experiences in Conrad's 'The Congo Diary'. Twain's political satire on the Congo, 'King Leopold's Soliloquy' did not appear until 1905. Knowles and Moore (2000), in 'Oxford Reader's Companion to Conrad ' p.341, suggest that he read Twain in his early sea years while on British ships.

   
   
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