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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 30831


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'We were coasting down Corsica — I saw it out of my bathroom window — in perfect weather, mild and calm and sunny. We passed through the Straits of Bonifac[c]io about 11 and were soon out of land. I sat on deck all day without any rugs or wraps and read Stevenson's charming letters, walked about with the Austrian a little and talked to the Australians.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

1 Dec 1899

Country:

at sea in Western Mediterranean en route for Palestine

Time

daytime

Place:

other location: on deck onboard the French passenger steamship S.S. Saghalien between Marseilles, Corsica/ Sardinia and S Italy

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:

Gertrude Bell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

16 Jul 1868

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Oxford graduate, language student, yet to take up formal occupation as archaeologist and political advisor

Religion:

originally Christian (Anglican) by now declared atheist

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

at sea in Western Mediterranean en route for Palestine

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Title:

The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson to his family and friends; selected and edited, with notes and introduction, by Sidney Colvin

Genre:

Autobiog / Diary

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

London: Methuen, 1899

Provenance

unknown
probably owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

30831

Source - Manuscript:

Other

Information:

Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University Library http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk

Additional Information:

Letter from Gertrude Bell to Hugh Bell 2 December 1899 http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/letter_details.php?letter_id=1085

Citation:

Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University Library http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=30831, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

The text being read is probably the Sidney Colvin edition of Stevenson's letters, which appeared that year. The other possibility is the Letters from Samoa which appeared in 1897.

   
   
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