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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 6624


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

''When I was seven years old [...] I was kept from chapel one Sunday afternoon by some ailment or other. When the door closed behind the other chapel-goers, I looked at the books on the table. The ugliest-looking of them was turned down open; and my turning it up was one of the leading incidents of my life. That plain, clumsy, calf-bound volume was "Paradise Lost";...there was something about Satan cleaving Chaos, which made me turn to the poetry; and my mental destiny was fixed for the next seven years.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 12 Jun 1810 and 11 Jun 1811

Country:

England

Time

afternoon: Sunday

Place:

city: Norwich
county: Norfolk

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:

Harriet Martineau

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

12 Jun 1802

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder
child of manufacturer

Occupation:

child

Religion:

Unitarian Christian

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:

John Milton

Title:

Paradise Lost

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Smith, Elder, & Co,. 15 Waterloo Place, London

Provenance

owned
Copy owned by her family


Source Information:

Record ID:

6624

Source:

Print

Author:

Harriet Martineau

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Harriet Martineau's Autobiography

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1877

Vol:

1

Page:

42

Additional Comments:

Smith, Elder, & Co,. 15 Waterloo Place, London. Third edition. In 3 volumes.

Citation:

Harriet Martineau, Harriet Martineau's Autobiography, (London, 1877), 1, p. 42, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=6624, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

Initial experience was silent & solitary, some of the subsequent reading was done with company present.

   
   
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