Record Number: 23753
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Look here, my fame is even more complete than I had dreamed of. Get the "Spectators" for August 5th and 12th; and you will see how the poor Spectatorists were puzzled and ("Scottice") affronted at my paper. It is charming.'
Century:1850-1899
Date:Until: Aug 1876
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:13 Nov 1850
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Writer
Religion:Uncommitted
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Review article; and 'Husbands and Wives'.
Genre:Essays / Criticism
Form of Text:Print: Serial / periodical
Publication DetailsThe Spectator, 5 and 12 August 1876.
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:23753
Source:Robert Louis Stevenson
Editor:Bradford A. Booth
Title:The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879
Place of Publication:New Haven and London
Date of Publication:1994
Vol:2
Page:187
Additional Comments:
Letter 445, To his Mother, [23 August 1876], Savile Club. Co-editor Ernest Mehew. The foregoing material in square brackets has been added by the editors.
Citation:
Robert Louis Stevenson, Bradford A. Booth (ed.), The Letters of Robert Louis Stevenson, April 1874-July 1879, (New Haven and London, 1994), 2, p. 187, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=23753, accessed: 04 February 2026
Additional Comments:
On p.187 the Editors� Note 1 to letter 445 reads: �'The Spectator' for 5 August desribed �Virginibus Puerisque� as a �bit of humouristic padding� and proceeded to quote extracts from it. The following week it used the essay as the theme of an article called �Husbands and Wives� and refers to RLS as �clever and rather cynical�.�
