Record Number: 25749
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'This ["The Eldest Son"] is extremely fine [...]. At the end of each act I got up and walked for a while in a sort of exultation over the sheer art of the thing.' After approximately 25 lines of praise and constructive criticism, Conrad adds '[...]I am writing after a second reading.'
Century:1900-1945
Date:Between 17 Jul 1909 and 18 Jul 1909
Country:England
Timeevening
daytime
city: Aldington, Nr Hythe
county: Kent
(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:3 Dec 1857
Socio-Economic Group:Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility
Master mariner and author
Religion:Roman Catholic
Country of Origin:Poland
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:The Eldest Son
Genre:Drama
Form of Text:Manuscript: Unknown
Publication Details1912
Provenancen/a
Source Information:
Record ID:25749
Source:Joseph Conrad
Editor:Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies
Title:The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911
Place of Publication:Cambridge
Date of Publication:1990
Vol:4
Page:255-6
Additional Comments:
Letter from Joseph Conrad to John Galsworthy,dated 18 July 1909, Aldington.
Citation:
Joseph Conrad, Karl Frederick R. and Laurence Davies (ed.), The Collected Letters of Joseph Conrad Volume 4 1908-1911, (Cambridge, 1990), 4, p. 255-6, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=25749, accessed: 09 May 2025
Additional Comments:
Internal evidence from this source and a letter the previous day (p.255 of source text) allows the time of these two reading experiences to be placed fairly precisely as the evening of 17 July and the very late evening of 18 July 1909.
