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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 8027


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Why do you like Miss Austen so very much? I am puzzled on that point. What induced you to say that you would have rather written "Pride and Prejudice" or "Tom Jones", than any of the Waverley Novels? I had not seen "Pride and Prejudice" till I read that sentence of yours, and then I got the book. And what did I find? An accurate daguerreotyped portrait of a commonplace face; a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden, with neat borders and delicate flowers; but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy, no open country, no fresh air, no blue hill, no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen, in their elegant but confined houses. These observations will probably irritate you, but I shall run the risk.' [Bronte goes on to compare Austen and George Sand]

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1847 and 12 Jan 1848

Country:

England

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


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Charlotte Bronte

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

21 Apr 1816

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Novelist

Religion:

Anglican

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:

Jane Austen

Title:

Pride and Prejudice

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

8027

Source:

Print

Author:

Charlotte Bronte

Editor:

T.J. Wise

Title:

The Brontes: Their Friendships, Lives, and Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1932

Vol:

2

Page:

178

Additional Comments:

second editor, J.A. Symington. Letter from Charlotte Bronte to G.H. Lewes, 12 Jan 1848

Citation:

Charlotte Bronte, T.J. Wise (ed.), The Brontes: Their Friendships, Lives, and Correspondence, (Oxford, 1932), 2, p. 178, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=8027, accessed: 28 March 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
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