Record Number: 34341
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'David Watson, M.A. of St. Andrews University, used to spend every spare moment of his day and whole Sundays on end with this writer [Ford] standing beside him at his pulpit and construing for him every imaginable kind of book from �Ataxerxes� of Madame de Scud�ry and �Les Enfants de Capitaine Grant� by Jules Verne, to ode after ode of Tibullus, Fouqu�s �Udine� all of the �Inferno�, the greater part of �Lazarillo de Tormes� and �Don Quixote� in the original[�] In addition, Mr. Watson had this writer translate for him orally into French �The Two Admirals�, �The Deerslayer�, and �The Last of the Mohicans��which made this writer appreciate what a magnificent prose writer Cooper was.’
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between Sep 1881 and Mar 1889
Country:England
Timedaytime
Place:city: Folkestone
county: Kent
specific address: Pretoria House School
location in dwelling: schoolroom
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:17 Dec 1873
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Student
Religion:Catholic
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Artam�ne ou le Grand Cyrus
Genre:Classics, Fiction
Form of Text:Publication Details
n/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:34341
Source:Max Saunders
Editor:n/a
Title:Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life: The World before the War
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1996
Vol:1
Page:33
Additional Comments:
Ford was recalling in his late work "The March or Literature" (1939), the original source for this evidence. See Saunders 1, p.507 fn.6
Citation:
Max Saunders, Ford Madox Ford: A Dual Life: The World before the War, (Oxford, 1996), 1, p. 33, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=34341, accessed: 06 February 2026
Additional Comments:
Madame de Scud�ry (1607-1701) does not appear to have written a work called "Ataxerxes", though she wrote on other Persian kings. Ford is perhaps misremembering the title.
