Record Number: 3878

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

?To say the truth, my compliment is not so strong as it seems; for there is no English paper now wh. I can read without disgust. The Saturday, politically speaking, is intolerably wordy & pompous; the Spectator is Hutton; and the Pall Mall is Greenwood ? that is to say, a mere mass of petty rancour, always snarling in the attempt to be smart & as narrow-minded as if it was an ecclesiastical organ. My brother, I am thankful to say, does not write in it now & says he can?t read it. Really, it is hard to be without an organ; but even old Times, lying & trimming & idiotic as it is, is less offensive to me than these performances. The only paper wh. I am told has some go in it is The World & that is simply blackguard.?

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

unknown

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

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:

Leslie Stephen

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

28 Nov 1832

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Literary critic, historian, journalist, biographer

Religion:

Christian

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:

The Times

Genre:

Essays / Criticism

Form of Text:

Print: Newspaper

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

3878

Source:

Print

Author:

Leslie Stephen

Editor:

John Bicknell

Title:

The Selected Letters of Leslie Stephen Vol. 1 1864-1882

Place of Publication:

Ohio State University Press

Date of Publication:

1996

Vol:

1

Page:

160

Additional Comments:

Letter from Leslie Stephen to Charles Eliot Norton (October 1875)

Citation:

Leslie Stephen, John Bicknell (ed.), The Selected Letters of Leslie Stephen Vol. 1 1864-1882, (Ohio State University Press, 1996), 1, p. 160, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=3878, accessed: 23 April 2025

---

Additional Comments:

None