Record Number: 17011

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Elizabeth Barrett to Mary Russell Mitford, 26 July 1842: 'If our dear Mr Kenyon should turn out to be bewitched [by Ellen Pickering], it was not achieved by the novels. He keeps Wordsworth & Tennyson in his house until weeks count up into months without reading a page of them: he is not likely to read a Miss P. But I who read more of good & bad than I dare confess, & who of late years [as invalid] have stretched out my hand for literature, more sometimes to be languid & half asleep over than for thoughtful purpose, know her novels very well, & have found the degree of amusement or beguilement I sought, from several of them. Nobody can praise them for good writing to be sure, -- nor for any other sort of elevation above the commonplace [...] But there is a degree of amusement to be confessed in the books -- at least by me when I am sleepy -- & there is an amiableness & good feeling which I was always pleased to confess.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1833 and 26 Jul 1842

Country:

England

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:

Elizabeth Barrett

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

6 Mar 1806

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

Evangelical

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:

Ellen Pickering

Title:

novels

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

17011

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Philip Kelley and Ronald Hudson

Title:

The Brownings' Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Winfield

Date of Publication:

1988

Vol:

6

Page:

46

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Philip Kelley and Ronald Hudson (ed.), The Brownings' Correspondence, (Winfield, 1988), 6, p. 46, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=17011, accessed: 09 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

None