Record Number: 32431

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

(1) 'I have now made a good start on my second volume of Macaulay, which is admirable. What a nice man James must have been!' (2) 'I am nearly through Macaulay Vol. II, which I have enjoyed immensely, especially the part about Oxford.' (3) '...having finished Macaulay (an admirable book, tho' of course the writer is too much of a whig and puritan for my taste: the old cavaliers were at any rate gentlemen)....'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 2 Feb 1917 and 20 Feb 1917

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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Clive Staples Lewis

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Thomas Babington Macaulay

Title:

The History of England from the Accession of James the Second

Genre:

Other religious, History, Politics

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

Most likely edition: Dent, London (1906) or reprint (1912), Everyman's Library series

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32431

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:

274, 277, 281

Additional Comments:

(1) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, 7 February 1917 (2) From a letter to the same, 15 February 1917 (3) From a letter to the same, 20 February 1917

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 274, 277, 281, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32431, accessed: 09 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

Evidence that Lewis owned his own copy: ' the 2nd Vol of Macaulay is come, in excellent condition. The leaves are all stuck together and lump in ridges and make the right crackly noise.' (Letter to Greeves, 31 January 1917, v.1., p.271) I am not sure whether the volumes in Everyman's Library answered this description, but since Lewis often chose this imprint, I have given it as being the most likely. He went on to order Volume Three, which 'has come at last in a shocking shop soiled copy, but I suppose I shall have to keep it.' (Letter to Greeves, 14 March 1917, v.1, p.294). This was just before Lewis went up to Oxford University where he was overwhelmed with other matters: I don't know whether he ever read the rest of Macaulay's 'History', but he does not refer to it again in any of his correspondence.