Record Number: 4256

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'[During the Great Depression] "Thousands used the Public Library for the first time", recalled itinerant labourer John Brown, who read Shaw, Marx, Engels, and classic literature until he exhausted his South Shields library.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 1930 and 1940

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: South Shields
Public Library

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:

John Brown

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

n/a

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

labourer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

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:

George Bernard Shaw

Title:

n/a

Genre:

Fiction, Drama, Essays / Criticism

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (public library)

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Source Information:

Record ID:

4256

Source:

Print

Author:

Jonathan Rose

Editor:

n/a

Title:

The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes

Place of Publication:

New Haven

Date of Publication:

2001

Vol:

n/a

Page:

251

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Jonathan Rose, The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes, (New Haven, 2001), p. 251, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=4256, accessed: 01 May 2025

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Additional Comments:

See John Brown, 'I was a Tramp' (London, 1934)