Record Number: 34341
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'David Watson, M.A. of St. Andrews University, used to spend every spare moment of his day and whole Sundays on end with this writer [Ford] standing beside him at his pulpit and construing for him every imaginable kind of book from “Ataxerxes” of Madame de Scudéry and “Les Enfants de Capitaine Grant” by Jules Verne, to ode after ode of Tibullus, Fouqué’s “Udine” all of the “Inferno”, the greater part of “Lazarillo de Tormes” and “Don Quixote” in the original[…] In addition, Mr. Watson had this writer translate for him orally into French “The Two Admirals”, “The Deerslayer”, and “The Last of the Mohicans”—which made this writer appreciate what a magnificent prose writer Cooper was.’
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between Sep 1881 and Mar 1889
Country:England
Timedaytime
Place:city: Folkestone
county: Kent
specific address: Pretoria House School
location in dwelling: schoolroom
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:17 Dec 1873
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Student
Religion:Catholic
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Artamène ou le Grand Cyrus
Genre:Classics, Fiction
Form of Text:Publication Details
n/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:34341
Source:Max Saunders
Editor:n/a
Title:Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life: The World before the War
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1996
Vol:1
Page:33
Additional Comments:
Ford was recalling in his late work "The March or Literature" (1939), the original source for this evidence. See Saunders 1, p.507 fn.6
Citation:
Max Saunders, Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life: The World before the War, (Oxford, 1996), 1, p. 33, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=34341, accessed: 23 April 2024
Additional Comments:
Madame de Scudéry (1607-1701) does not appear to have written a work called "Ataxerxes", though she wrote on other Persian kings. Ford is perhaps misremembering the title.
