Record Number: 20805

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I remember when the [italics] Literary Property [end italics] of those letters [Lord Chesterfield's to his son] was contested in the Court of Session in Scotland, and Mr Henry Dundas, one of the counsel read this character [of the 'respectable Hottentot'], as an exhibition of Johnson, Sir David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes, one of the Judges, maintained with some warmth, that it was not intended as a portrait of Johnson, but of a late noble Lord, distinguished for abstruse science'.

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1774 and 31 Dec 1791

Country:

Scotland

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Edinburgh
other location: Court of Session

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:

Henry Dundas

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

28 Apr 1742

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

lawyer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

Scotland

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

the assembled court, judges etc

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl of Chesterfield

Title:

Letters to his Son

Genre:

Conduct books

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

20805

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R.W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

188-9

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 188-9, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20805, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791.