Record Number: 6199

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Adrian Johns notes how the school-aged Robert Boyle was advised to read romances [incuding "'the stale Adventures [of] Amadis de Gaule'"] as remedy for a "melancholic state" following a tertian ague: "Far from curing Boyle, he later testified, the stories 'prejudic'd him by unsettling his Thoughts ... accustom's his Thoughts to such a Habitude of Raving, that he hath scarce ever been their quiet Master since.'"

Century:

1600-1699

Date:

Between 1627 and 1645

Country:

n/a

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

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:

Robert Boyle

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1627

Socio-Economic Group:

Royalty / aristocracy

Occupation:

n/a

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Ireland

Country of Experience:

n/a

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Title:

romances including Amadis de Gaulle

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

6199

Source:

Print

Author:

Adrian Johns

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making

Place of Publication:

Chicago

Date of Publication:

1998

Vol:

n/a

Page:

380-81

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Adrian Johns, The Nature of the Book: Print and Knowledge in the Making, (Chicago, 1998), p. 380-81, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=6199, accessed: 08 June 2024

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Additional Comments:

Quotations from Robert Boyle, "Account of Philaretus in his Minority," in Robert Boyle by Himself and His Friends, ed. M. Hunter (London, 1994) 8-9.