Record Number: 19055

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'The dead lights [shutters used to protect ships' interiors during storms at sea]were no sooner up and a candle made fast to the table by many a knot and twist of small cord, than my young companion took up a book, and very composedly began to read to herself. I begged her to let me share her amusement by reading aloud. This she instantly complied with. She had however taken up the first book that came to hand, which happened to be not very apropos to the present occasion, as it proved to be Lord Kaims's Elements of Criticism. She read on however and I listen'd with much seeming attention, tho' neither she nor I knew a word it contained [...] The storm roared over and around us, the Candle cast a melancholy gleam across the Cabin, which we now considered as our tomb. We did not, however, assist each other's distress, for neither of us mentioned our own.'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

Between 25 Oct 1774 and 31 Dec 1774

Country:

in transit

Time

n/a

Place:

other location: At sea, aboard the Jamaica Packet

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:

Fanny Rutherfurd

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

none

Religion:

unknown

Country of Origin:

North Carolina

Country of Experience:

in transit

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

Janet Schaw

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Henry Home, Lord Kames

Title:

Elements of Criticism

Genre:

Essays / Criticism, Philosophy, Arts / architecture

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

First published 1762

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

19055

Source:

Print

Author:

Janet Schaw

Editor:

Evangeline Walker Andrews with Charles MacLean Andrews

Title:

Journal of a Lady of Quality; Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 1774 to 1776

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

1934

Vol:

n/a

Page:

43-44

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Janet Schaw, Evangeline Walker Andrews with Charles MacLean Andrews (ed.), Journal of a Lady of Quality; Being the Narrative of a Journey from Scotland to the West Indies, North Carolina, and Portugal, in the Years 1774 to 1776, (New Haven, 1934), p. 43-44, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=19055, accessed: 05 October 2024

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Additional Comments:

Reader 18 or 19 years old, and returning to America following education in Scotland.