Record Number: 19324

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'It was only a month before or perhaps it was only a week before, that I had read to him aloud from beginning to end, and to his perfect satisfaction, as he lay on the bed not being very well at the time, the proofs of his translation of Victor Hugo's "Toilers of the Sea". Such was[...] my first introduction to the sea in literature. [...] I am not likely to forget the process of being trained in the art of reading aloud.'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 1866 and 31 Dec 1868

Country:

Russia

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Chernikhov

Type of Experience
(Reader):
 

silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown

Type of Experience
(Listener):
 

solitary reactive unknown
single serial unknown

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility

Occupation:

Child

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

Poland

Country of Experience:

Russia

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

Apollonius N. Korzeniowski

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Victor Hugo

Title:

Les Travailleurs de la Mer

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Codex, Sheet, Conrad's father's translation into Polish.

Publication Details

First published in French 1866 Verboeckhoven, Brussels. Polish translation by Apollonius N Korzeniowski

Provenance

read in situ
MS written and owned by Conrad's father

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Source Information:

Record ID:

19324

Source:

Print

Author:

Joseph Conrad

Editor:

n/a

Title:

A Personal Record

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1998

Vol:

n/a

Page:

74

Additional Comments:

see also letter to Edward Garnett 20th January 1900.

Citation:

Joseph Conrad, A Personal Record, (London, 1998), p. 74, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=19324, accessed: 16 February 2025

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Additional Comments:

Conrad claimed to have been eight or nine years old at the time (see letter to Edward Garnett 20th January 1900.) This suggests that the Polish translation was carried out soon after the original publication in French, though it was never published.