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the experience of reading in Britain, from 1450 to 1945...

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 5422


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

"As an errand-boy I had, of course, many hardships to undergo, and to bear with much tyranny; and that led me into reasoning upon men and things, the causes of misery, the anomalies of our societary state, politics &tc., and the circle of my being rapidly out-surged. New power came to me with all that I saw and thought and read. I studied political works, - such as Paine, Volney, Howitt, Louis Blanc, &tc, which gave me another element to mould into my verse, though I am convinced that a poet must sacrifice much if he write party-political poetry."

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1833 and 1849

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London

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:

Gerald Massey

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 May 1828

Socio-Economic Group:

Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder

Occupation:

Chartist poet and prose writer; at the time errand boy

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



Text Being Read:

Author:

Volney

Title:

n/a

Genre:

Politics

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

5422

Source:

Print

Author:

Gerald Massey

Editor:

Samuel Smiles

Title:

Poetical Works

Place of Publication:

n/a

Date of Publication:

1861

Vol:

n/a

Page:

xiii

Additional Comments:

The quotation comes from Samuel Smiles' introduction to Massey's "Poetical Works", entitled "A Biographical Sketch of Gerald Massey, 1851 (when he was only 23)". Smiles is here quoting Massey himself, though the source is not attributed.

Citation:

Gerald Massey, Samuel Smiles (ed.), Poetical Works, (1861), p. xiii, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=5422, accessed: 15 October 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
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