Record Number: 33498
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'Mr Joseph Conrad, the author, writes: I don�t remember any child�s book. I don�t think I ever read any; the first book I remember distinctly is Hugo�s "Travailleurs de la Mer" which I read at the age of seven. But within the last two years I�ve participated in my son�s (age 5) course of reading, and I share his tastes � in prose, Grimm and Andersen; in verse, Lear.'
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between 1 Jan 1866 and 31 Dec 1867
Country:Ukraine
Timen/a
Place:n/a
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:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:3 Dec 1857
Socio-Economic Group:Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility
Child
Religion:Roman Catholic
Country of Origin:Poland
Country of Experience:Ukraine
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Les Travailleurs de la mer
Genre:Fiction
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsParis 1866
Provenanceowned
Source Information:
Record ID:33498
Source:Joseph Conrad
Editor:n/a
Title:The Books of my Childhood (1X); in T.P.'s Weekly
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:9th January 1903
Vol:n/a
Page:271
Additional Comments:
see also http://www.conradfirst.net/view/image?id=27790 for source of this evidence of reading
Citation:
Joseph Conrad, The Books of my Childhood (1X); in T.P.'s Weekly, (London, 9th January 1903), p. 271, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33498, accessed: 04 February 2026
Additional Comments:
Conrad's memory is at fault since he would have been 9 years old when this book first appeared in 1866. Conrad would have read it in French. The country of reading is tagged as 'Ukraine' though it didn't exist as a political entity at the time (part of the Russian Empire).
