Record Number: 944

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Circuit preacher Joseph Barker found that theology simply could not compete with Shakespeare: "What pleased me most was the simplicity and beauty of his style. He had always a meaning in what he said, and you could easily see his meaning. He never talked at random or lost himself in a mist. I had at this time been so accustomed to meet dull, mysterious and unmeaning stuff in many religious books as they are called, that I felt quite delighted to read something that was rational, plain, stirring, and straightforward".'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

unknown

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:

Joseph Barker

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1806

Socio-Economic Group:

Clergy (includes all denominations)

Occupation:

circuit preacher

Religion:

Methodist

Country of Origin:

n/a

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:

William Shakespeare

Title:

n/a

Genre:

Drama, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

944

Source:

Print

Author:

Jonathan Rose

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

2001

Vol:

n/a

Page:

32

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 32, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=944, accessed: 21 September 2024

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Additional Comments:

See Joseph Barker, 'The History and Confessions of a Man' (1846) p.140