Record Number: 30833

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Do you know, these wet afternoons I have been reading the story of Aladdin to myself for pleasure, without a dictionary! It's not very difficult, I must confess, still it's ordinary good Arabic, not for beginners, and I find it too charming for words. Moreover, I see that I really have learnt a good deal since I came for I couldn't read just for fun to save my life. It is satisfactory, isn't it. I look forward to a time when I shall just read Arabic — like that!'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 7 Feb 1900 and 18 Feb 1900

Country:

Palestine

Time

afternoon

Place:

city: Jerusalem
specific address: Hotel Palestine or German Consulate

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:

Gertrude Bell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

16 Jul 1868

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Oxford graduate, language and (by now) archaeology 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:

Palestine

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Anon

Title:

One Thousand and One Nights (Arabian Nights)

Genre:

Fiction, fairytales

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

see additional information

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

30833

Source - Manuscript:

Other

Information:

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

Additional Information:

Letter from Gertrude Bell to Florence Bell 18 February 1900 http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/letter_details.php?letter_id=1128

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=30833, accessed: 25 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

The story of 'Aladdin' was apparently first incorporated into "The Thousand and One Nights", in a French translation after 1709, when Antoine Galland discovered in the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris two Arabic manuscripts containing "Aladdin" and two more of the 'interpolated' tales. It seems from the evidence that Gertrude Bell may have been reading a re-translation into Arabic, perhaps even a child's edition.