Record Number: 20398

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I met a rum old army doctor, called Lewins, who sent me a paper of his, full of matter that would not be very gratifying to the elect: In which paper he has the following: "Healthy sensation .. is thus our only Heaven: morbid sensation, varying as it does from ennui or general malaise to mental and corporeal agony and anguish, our only Hell".'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

17 Mar 1874

Country:

France

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Mentone

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:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

13 Nov 1850

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

atheist

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

France

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Robert Lewins

Title:

unknown

Genre:

Philosophy, Medicine

Form of Text:

Print: Unknown

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

20398

Source:

Print

Author:

Robert Louis Stevenson

Editor:

Bradford Booth

Title:

The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson

Place of Publication:

New Haven and London

Date of Publication:

1994

Vol:

1

Page:

493

Additional Comments:

additional editor Ernest Mehew. Letter to Sidney Colvin.

Citation:

Robert Louis Stevenson, Bradford Booth (ed.), The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, (New Haven and London, 1994), 1, p. 493, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20398, accessed: 26 April 2025

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Additional Comments:

It is impossible to identify the exact paper that Dr Robert Lewins had sent RLS to read and from which he quotes.