Elizabeth Missing Sewell on her mother, Jane Sewell (nee Edwards; married 1802):
'She must have been naturally very clever; for, although she had received little or no
education, her knowledge of books, and her memory for poetry and apt quotations, were quite
remarkable. She often talked to us of her studies as a girl; how she used not only to devour
novels, and read Sir Charles Grandison every winter, but how she also taught herself a little
French, learned by heart long passages from the great poets, sometimes read history, and
especially delighted in Bayley's Dictionary, with its long meanings and rules for pronunciation.'
Century: 1700-1799 / 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Jane Edwards Print: Book
'She often talked to us of her studies as a girl; how she used not only to devour novels and read Sir Charles Grandison every winter, but how she also taught herself a little French, learned by heart long passsages from the great poets, sometimes read history, and especially delighted in Bayley's Dictionary, with its long meanings and rules for pronunciation'.
Century: 1700-1799 / 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Jane Edwards Print: Book
'Of course you have read Segur, & Pepys, and with the latter are perhaps "mightily" weary now & then, but on the whole amused - There is a interesting History of the Tower of London lately published, which read when you can, for its historical anecdotes - and also (if you like Tours) read John Russel's Tour in Germany in 1820, 21, 22.'
Century: 1800-1849 Reader/Listener/Group: Sarah Harriet Burney Print: Book
