Record Number: 21930
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'JOHNSON. "O! Mr. Dilly-you must know that an English Benedictine Monk at Paris has translated "The Duke of Berwick's Memoirs", from the original French, and has sent them to me to sell. I offered them to Strahan, who sent them back with this answer:--"That the first book he had published was the Duke of Berwick's Life, by which he had lost: and he hated the name."--Now I honestly tell you, that Strahan has refused them; but I also honestly tell you, that he did it upon no principle, for he never looked into them". DILLY. "Are they well translated, Sir?" JOHNSON. "Why, Sir, very well--in a style very current and very clear".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Until: 15 Apr 1778
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: London
Type of Experience(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:18 Sep 1709
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:writer
Religion:Anglican
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:James Fitzjames, 1st Duke of Berwick
Title:Memoirs of the Marshall Duke of Berwick
Genre:Autobiog / Diary
Form of Text:Manuscript: Unknown
Publication Detailstranslated from the French by a Benedictine monk; published by T. Cadell 1779
Provenanceborrowed (other)
sent to Johnson to find a publisher
Source Information:
Record ID:21930
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R.W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:943
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 943, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21930, accessed: 23 May 2025
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791
