Record Number: 17728

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Of course you have read Kenilworth Castle, and i trust, liked it. I greatly prefer it to the Monastery, & am almost as much pleased with it as with the Abbot: but not quite; the catastrophe is painful, & Elizabeth figures not so appropriately in a Romance, as her beautiful Rival; neither is the false varnish given to Leicester's character capable of making one forget his historical turpitude. The introduction of Raleigh is a delightful relief; and I wanted Sir Philip Sidney to boot; and more about several others only incidentally mentioned. It would perhaps have been too hazardous to bring in dear Shakespear: I cannot, however, but wish that he had adventured it. May be, I am a fool, and Scott's enemy for desiring it: but with his versatility of power; his happy embodyings of fictitious characters, he might surely have given form and pressure (if any man could) to the realities of Shakespear mind, and manners, & person. - At all events, Raleigh being so well delineated, I hope he will soon take some other historical personage in hand.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1821 and 27 Feb 1821

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London
specific address: Chelsea College

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:

Sarah Harriet Burney

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

29 Aug 1772

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

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:

Walter Scott

Title:

Kenilworth

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

17728

Source:

Print

Author:

Sarah Harriet Burney

Editor:

Lorna J. Clark

Title:

Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, The

Place of Publication:

Athens GA / London

Date of Publication:

1997

Vol:

n/a

Page:

230

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Sarah Harriet Burney, Lorna J. Clark (ed.), Letters of Sarah Harriet Burney, The, (Athens GA / London, 1997), p. 230, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=17728, accessed: 22 November 2024

---

Additional Comments:

letter to Charlotte Barret, 27th February 1821