Record Number: 21471
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
Alfred Tennyson to John Forster, 29 March 1854: 'I understand from Archibald Peel that you are aggrieved at my not writing to you [...] A reason for my not writing much is the bad condition of my right eye which quite suddenly came on as I was reading or trying to read small Persian text. You know perhaps how very minute in some of those Eastern tongues are the differences of letters: a little dot more or less: in a moment, after a three hours' hanging over this scratchy text, my right eye became filled with great masses of floating blackness, and the other eye similarly affected tho' not so badly. I am in a great fear about them, and think of coming up to town about them'.
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between 1 Jan 1854 and 29 Mar 1854
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:county: Isle of Wight
specific address: Farringford
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:6 Aug 1809
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Writer
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Persian grammar
Genre:Textbook / self-education, Reference / General works
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:21471
Source:Hallam Tennyson
Editor:n/a
Title:Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1897
Vol:1
Page:373
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, (London, 1897), 1, p. 373, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21471, accessed: 04 February 2026
Additional Comments:
Source author notes on p.374: 'my father [...] had hurt his eyes by poring over a small-printed Persian Grammar [...] this with Hafiz and other Persian books had to be hidden away, for he had "seen the Persian letters stalking like giants round the walls of his room."'
