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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 32998


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

‘The other day I read a Biography of Tennyson, which says he was unhappy, even in the midst of his fame, wealth, and domestic serenity. Divine discontent! I can quite believe he never knew happiness for one moment such as I have … But as for misery, was he ever frozen alive, with dead men for comforters. Did he ever hear the moaning at the bar, not at twilight and evening bell only, but at dawn, noon, and night, eating and sleeping, walking and working, always the close moaning of the Bar; the thunder, the hissing and the whining of the Bar?’

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 20 Jul 1917 and 6 Aug 1917

Country:

Scotland

Time

daytime

Place:

city: Craiglockhart
county: Edinburgh and Lothian
specific address: Craiglockhart War Hospital

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:

Wilfred Owen

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

18 Mar 1893

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

2/Lt., 2nd Battalion, Manchester Regiment

Religion:

Christian (Anglican)

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Scotland

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Anon Anon

Title:

[unknown biography of Alfred, Lord Tennyson]

Genre:

Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

32998

Source:

Print

Author:

Wilfred Owen

Editor:

Harold Owen

Title:

Wilfred Owen: Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1967

Vol:

n/a

Page:

482

Additional Comments:

Letter to (?) Leslie Gunston 8 August 1917, Craiglockhart War Hospital

Citation:

Wilfred Owen, Harold Owen (ed.), Wilfred Owen: Collected Letters, (London, 1967), p. 482, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32998, accessed: 08 November 2024


Additional Comments:

The date range is speculative. At least 4 biographies of Tennyson had appeared by 1917.

   
   
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