Record Number: 9879

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'One thing, however, yet remains to us & dares to baffle all the wickedness of the Ministry, the tyranny of the Crown, & the various horrours of these ruinous times, ?Manuscript tragedies are yet Handed about to be read & Country Parsons are yet left to Write them. One of these we had last Night the happiness of hearing,? the Author is Tutor to a Nephew of Sir Philip Clerke, ?I shall not pretend either to praise or to censure his Piece, but content myself with giving You a specimen of his ingenuousness ? "If", says he, "any one asserts that my Play is barren of incident,?it is no more than I know already,?but I can?t help it,?for I could find none in The History from which I took it". It is called, from its Hero, Timoleon.'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

25 Apr 1780

Country:

England

Time

evening

Place:

city: Bath
county: Somerset

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Listener:

Frances Burney

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

13 Jun 1752

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

Christian

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

Miss Playdell, Mrs Lambert, Mrs Thrale. Not clear who is actually reading.

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Rev. George Butt

Title:

Timoleon

Genre:

Drama

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Sheet

Publication Details

the play was not produced

Provenance

borrowed (other)
from the author

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Source Information:

Record ID:

9879

Source:

Print

Author:

Fanny Burney

Editor:

Betty Rizzo

Title:

The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney

Place of Publication:

London: Oxford University Press

Date of Publication:

2003

Vol:

IV

Page:

71

Additional Comments:

In a letter to Samuel Johnson from Fanny Burney, [26] April [1780] from Bath

Citation:

Fanny Burney, Betty Rizzo (ed.), The Early Journals and Letters of Fanny Burney, (London: Oxford University Press, 2003), IV, p. 71, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=9879, accessed: 24 April 2024

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Additional Comments:

Frances Burney recounts this reading in another letter. She may have been both reading and listening.