Record Number: 12616

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'You may know that Mrs Humphry Ward is one of my literary bugbears. I have never really read any of her much-lauded works, but from casual glances into one or two of them & the perusal of copious reviews, I have felt instinctively that she was No Good. A new book of hers, a short one, The Story of Bessie Costrell, will appear in three months time & I have been promising myself the pleasure of scalping the woman. The tale runs through Cornhill in three instalments & in order that my onslaught might appear immediately after publication of the book, contemporaneously with the fulsome flatteries which the daily press is certain to shake out, I determined to read the thing carefully in serial form, and prepare a reasoned expos?. I have just returned from the Free Library. The mischief is, I find the first instalment damn well done. It is beautifully arranged and selected. The writing, without being great, is dignified and decent; and it is perfectly clear that she knows what she is talking about, to wit, village life.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

10 May 1895

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: 6 Victoria Grove

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:

Arnold Bennett

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

27 May 1867

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer/journalist

Religion:

Christian

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:

Mrs. Humphry Ward

Title:

The Story of Bessie Cottrell

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Serial / periodical

Publication Details

London: 1895

Provenance

borrowed (public library)

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Source Information:

Record ID:

12616

Source:

Print

Author:

Arnold Bennett

Editor:

James Hepburn

Title:

Letters of Arnold Bennett Vol.II 1889-1915

Place of Publication:

London: Oxford University Press

Date of Publication:

1968

Vol:

II

Page:

16-17

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Arnold Bennett, James Hepburn (ed.), Letters of Arnold Bennett Vol.II 1889-1915, (London: Oxford University Press, 1968), II, p. 16-17, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=12616, accessed: 18 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

None