Record Number: 32400

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

(1) 'I am at present reading a book which you would enjoy, "The letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple.... They lived in Cromwell's time, and the letters are very quaint. In the notes the editor also quotes an account of the "remove these baubles" scene by an eye- witness, who was apparently a member of the old aristocracy and tells us indignantly how the Lord Protector came into the House in "grey worsted stockings." They had their own way of writing love letters in those days: Mistress Osborne begins hers "Sir" like a letter to a newspaper....' (2) 'I have been reading the quaintest book this week, "The Letters of Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple in Everyman.... It is very interesting to read the ordinary everyday life of a girl in those days, and, tho' of course they are often dull there is a lot in them you would like.' (3) '... mine is only the 1/- Everyman and rather shop-soiled at that! (4) 'Have you looked at "Dorothy Osborne" yet and do you think you will like her? I am desperately in love with her and have accordingly made arrangements to commit suicide from 10 till 4 to-morrow precisely.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 13 Oct 1916 and 28 Nov 1916

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'

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

---

Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 Nov 1898

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Student

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

Northern Ireland

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Dorothy Osborne

Title:

Letters from Dorothy Osborne to Sir William Temple

Genre:

History, Letters

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Edited by Edward Abbott Parry. London: Dent, 1914 (Everyman's Library)

Provenance

owned

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

32400

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

238, 239, 254, 256

Additional Comments:

(1) From a letter to his father, 19 October 1916 (2) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 25 October 1916 (3) From a letter to the same, 15 November 1916 (4) From a letter to the same, 22 November 1916

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 238, 239, 254, 256, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32400, accessed: 15 May 2024

---

Additional Comments:

Lewis refers to 'the 1/- Everyman'. I am not sure whether this is the new edition, also 1914, 'With a new historical introduction by E A Parry'. Lewis never lost his love for Osborne: in a letter of 1943 to E. R. Eddison he writes of 'her incomparable letters to Sir W. Temple.' (Letters, v.2, p.588)