Record Number: 1315
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
Henry Mayhew holds meeting with a group of the lowest class of male juvenile thieves and vagabonds; during the meeting they tell him what they have read/ read regularly and Mayhew records this: "Respecting their education, according to the popular meaning of the term, 63 of the 150 were able to read and write, and they were principally thieves. Fifty of this number said they had read 'Jack Sheppard' and the lines of Dick Turpin, Claude du Val, and all the other popular thieves' novels, as well as the Newgate Calendar and Lives of Robbers and Pirates. Those who could not read themselves, said they'd had 'Jack Sheppard' read to them at the lodging houses. Numbers avowed that they had been induced to resort to an abandoned course of life from reading the lives of notorious thieves and novels about highway robbers."
Century:1800-1849
Date:Between 1 Jan 1830 and 31 Dec 1849
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: London
Type of Experience(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:n/a
Socio-Economic Group:Labourer (non-agricultural)
Occupation:London thieves
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:n/a
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Rookwood
Genre:Fiction, History
Form of Text:Print: Book, Serial / periodical, either in penny numbers or as volume
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:1315
Source:Henry Mayhew
Editor:n/a
Title:London Labour and the London Poor
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1861
Vol:1
Page:416
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
Henry Mayhew, London Labour and the London Poor, (London, 1861), 1, p. 416, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=1315, accessed: 30 December 2024
Additional Comments:
None
