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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 10133


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Authors tell strange stories about the immense size to which this fruit grows in some countries which are favourable to it. Rumphius says that they are sometimes so large that a man cannot easily lift one of them: the Malays told me that at Madura they were so large that two men could but carry one of them; at Batavia, however, they never exceed the size of a large melon, which in shape they resemble, but are coated over with angular spines like the shootings of some crystals: they are, however, soft, and do not at all prick any one who handles them.'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

25 Dec 1770

Country:

At sea off Suva

Time

n/a

Place:

other location: On board HMS Endeavour

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:

Joseph Banks

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

13 Feb 1743

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Naturalist

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

At sea off Suva

Listeners present if any:
e.g family, servants, friends

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Georg Eberhard Rumphius

Title:

Herbrium Aboinensis

Genre:

Natural history

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned


Source Information:

Record ID:

10133

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Banks

Editor:

Joseph Hooker

Title:

Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart., K.B. P.R.S. during Captain Cook's first voyage in HMS Endeavour in 1768-71 to Terra del Fuego, Otahite, New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch East Indies etc.

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1896

Vol:

n/a

Page:

395

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Joseph Banks, Joseph Hooker (ed.), Journal of the Right Hon. Sir Joseph Banks Bart., K.B. P.R.S. during Captain Cook's first voyage in HMS Endeavour in 1768-71 to Terra del Fuego, Otahite, New Zealand, Australia, the Dutch East Indies etc., (London, 1896), p. 395, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=10133, accessed: 22 November 2024


Additional Comments:

Date of birth is given as 2 February 1743 (O. S.) which has been converted to the modern date. The fruit "Nanca" (Sitodium cauliflorum) is being described.

   
   
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