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the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 21347


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

' [Letter from Boswell to Johnson] Your critical notes on the specimen of Lord Hailes's "Annals of Scotland" are excellent. I agreed with you on every one of them. He himself objected only to the alteration of [italics] free [end italics] to [italics] brave [end italics], in the passage where he says that Edward "departed with the glory dne to the conqueror of a free people". He says to call the Scots brave would only add to the glory of their conqueror. You will make allowance for the national zeal of our annalist. I now send a few more leaves of the "Annals", which I hope you will peruse, and return with observations, as you did upon the former occasion. Lord Hailes writes to me thus: "Mr. Boswell will be pleased to express the grateful sense which Sir David Dalrymple has of Dr. Johnson's attention to his little specimen".'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

Until: 30 Aug 1774

Country:

n/a

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


Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

James Boswell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 Oct 1740

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer and lawyer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Scotland

Country of Experience:

n/a

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

David Dalrymple, Lord Hailes

Title:

Annals of Scotland

Genre:

History

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Unknown

Publication Details

published from 1776

Provenance

read in situ
shown by Hailes


Source Information:

Record ID:

21347

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:

565-6

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 565-6, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21347, accessed: 12 October 2024


Additional Comments:

Originally published 1791. MS annotated by Johnson

   
   
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