Record Number: 12088
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'I was repelled at home, rather than encouraged to read, and I never remember to have seen a book in my elders' hands. Literature was limited to the "Daily Telegraph". To read in secret I escaped to the washhouse, and I well remember during my early apprentice days at Spitalfields, my grandfather, catching a sight of me reading there a copy of Dicks's shilling edition of Shakespeare - the whole, a marvellous feat of cheap publishing -sternly reproachful, exclaimed: "Ah, Tom, that'll never bring you bread and cheese!"'
Century:1850-1899
Date:Between 1 Jan 1852 and 31 Dec 1870
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: London, Spitalfields
location in dwelling: at home, hiding in the wash house
other location: wash house
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Child (0-17)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:1852
Socio-Economic Group:Labourer (non-agricultural)
Occupation:apprentice
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: Title:[works]
Genre:Drama, Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsDicks's shilling edition of the complete works
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:12088
Source:Thomas Okey
Editor:n/a
Title:A basketful of memories: An autobiographical sketch
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1930
Vol:n/a
Page:18
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Thomas Okey, A basketful of memories: An autobiographical sketch, (London, 1930), p. 18, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=12088, accessed: 13 March 2025
Additional Comments:
None
