Record Number: 30776

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Home to tea. Read some of Fratesi's [sic] "In Provincia" which I think is very good. Awfully cold.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

19 Feb 1894

Country:

Italy

Time

evening

Place:

city: Florence
county: Tuscany
specific address: unspecified lodgings

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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Gertrude Bell

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

16 Jul 1868

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry

Occupation:

Oxford graduate, language student, yet to take up formal occupation as archaeologist and political advisor

Religion:

Christian (Anglican) later declared herself atheist

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Italy

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Mario Pratesi

Title:

In provincia: novelle e bozzetti

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Firenze: Barbèra, 1883. 2nd edn. 1884. No record of translation into English.

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

30776

Source - Manuscript:

Other

Information:

Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University Library University http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk

Additional Information:

Diary entry 19 February 1894. http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/diary_details.php?diary_id=1534

Citation:

Gertrude Bell Archive, Newcastle University Library University http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=30776, accessed: 13 May 2024

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Additional Comments:

Mario Pratesi (1842–1921) wrote at least five realist novels based in Tuscany, in the 'verisimo regionale' style, in which he addressed contemporary social problems and urban middle class corruption.

Although Gertrude Bell's biographer suggests she only took Italian lessons in 1896, on a later visit, (Howell 2006, p. 423) diary entries from 1894 visit e.g. on 2 February http://www.gerty.ncl.ac.uk/diary_details.php?diary_id=1518 suggests that she was already taking Italian lessons. This reading experience is further evidence of some competency in written Italian.