Record Number: 7532

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I have done, as usual, almost nothing since we parted- Some one asked me with a smile, of which I knew not the meaning, if I would read that book, putting into my hands a volume of Rousseau's confessions. It is perhaps the most remarkable tome, I ever read. Except for its occassional obscenity, I might wish to see the remainder of the book: to try if possible to connect the character of Jean Jacques with my previous ideas of human nature.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

31 May 1819

Country:

Scotland

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:

Thomas Carlyle

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

4 Dec 1795

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer / Academic

Religion:

Lapsed Calvinist

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

Scotland

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Title:

Confessions

Genre:

Autobiog / Diary

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

First pub 1782-89, 4 vols

Provenance

borrowed (other)

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Source Information:

Record ID:

7532

Source:

Print

Author:

Thomas Carlyle

Editor:

C R Sanders

Title:

The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle

Place of Publication:

Durham, North Carolina

Date of Publication:

1970

Vol:

1

Page:

179

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Thomas Carlyle, C R Sanders (ed.), The Collected Letters of Thomas and Jane Welsh Carlyle, (Durham, North Carolina, 1970), 1, p. 179, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=7532, accessed: 26 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Taken from letter from Carlyle to Robert Mitchell, dated 31st May 1819, written at Mainhill. Pages 178 - 180 in this edition. Information about the work are given in the editor's notes. It is unclear from the letter which volume Carlyle was reading. Carlyle mentions that he has read the book 'since we parted' but I am unable to trace in the other letters what date this was, so am unable to estimate a date range for reading experience.