Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 6573


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Upon one of the interminable book-stalls, or rather book-walls, which displayed their leafy barrens along the quays of the Seine, I picked up a Cobbett's French Grammar for a franc, and a pocket dictionary for another. A fellow lodger lent me a Testament and a Telemaque; and to these materials I applied dogedly from six in the morning til dinnertime. I read the Grammar through first, and then made an abridgement of it on a small pack of plain cards... By these means ... I made rapid progress.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1825 and 31 Dec 1825

Country:

France

Time

morning
afternoon
evening
daytime

Place:

city: Paris

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:

Charles Manby Smith

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1804

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

journeyman printer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

France

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

[n/a]

Title:

Testament

Genre:

Bible

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (private library)
from a fellow lodger


Source Information:

Record ID:

6573

Source:

Print

Author:

Charles Manby Smith

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The working man's way in the world

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1857

Vol:

n/a

Page:

48

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Charles Manby Smith, The working man's way in the world, (London, 1857), p. 48, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=6573, accessed: 29 March 2024


Additional Comments:

Around 1825.

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design