Record Number: 11460

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'We had read at school in our Reading Books, gorgeous bits from Macaulay's "History" -the Trial of the Seven Bishops and the Relief of Derry -and it was therefore natural that I should pounce with my penny at the sight of a copy of his essay on "Warren Hastings", which hit my eye on almost my first visit to the Row... I read it, I remember, on the Embankment -lying in the sun on my belly on the flat top of the ornamental arch, near Cleopatra's needle, up which a boy could climb... The series which included this edition of "Warren Hastings" gave an obvious first step along this road. It was one of Cassells National Library, a series of literary classics edited by Henry Morley, Professor of English Literature at London University, sold for 3d. paper and 6d. cloth. New or secondhand they opened an enticing field for adventurous exploration. So did a parallel series of shilling volumes the Universal Library issued by Routledge, batches of which used to be dumped upon the secondhand market and sold for 4d a copy.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 21 Aug 1879 and 21 Aug 1894

Country:

England

Time

daytime

Place:

city: London
specific address: Embankment, on the top of the ornamental arch, near Cleopatra's needle

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 A. Jackson

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

21 Aug 1879

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

son of master craftsman, reading boy at printers

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Title:

Warren Hastings

Genre:

Essays / Criticism, History

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Cassells National Library, published in paper and cloth, Jackson bought secondhand copy

Provenance

owned
purchased secondhand book market in Bookseller's Row

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Source Information:

Record ID:

11460

Source:

Print

Author:

T.A. Jackson

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Solo Trumpet: Some memories of Socialist agitation and propaganda

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1953

Vol:

n/a

Page:

19-20

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

T.A. Jackson, Solo Trumpet: Some memories of Socialist agitation and propaganda, (London, 1953), p. 19-20, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=11460, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

None