Switch to English Switch to French

The Open University  |   Study at the OU  |   About the OU  |   Research at the OU  |   Search the OU

Listen to this page  |   Accessibility

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

Reading Experience Database UK Historical image of readers
 
 
 
 

Record Number: 19611


Reading Experience:

Evidence:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning to Anna Brownell Jameson, 2 April 1850: 'I have read Shirley lately: it is not equal to Jane Eyre in spontaneousness & earnestness: I found it heavy, I confess, though in [...] the compositional savoir faire, there is an advance. Robert has exhumed some French books, just now, from a little circulating li[brary] which we had not tried -- and we have just been making ourselves uncomfortable over Balzac's "Cousin Pons". But what a wonderful writer he is! Who could have taken such a subject, out of the lowest mud of humaity, & glorified & consecrated it?'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Feb 1850 and 2 Apr 1850

Country:

Italy

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Florence

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:

Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

6 Mar 1806

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

Italy

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

n/a


Additional Comments:

n/a



Text Being Read:

Author:

Charlotte Bronte

Title:

Shirley

Genre:

Fiction

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1849

Provenance

unknown


Source Information:

Record ID:

19611

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Philip Kelley, Scott Lewis, Edward Hagan

Title:

The Brownings' Correspondence

Place of Publication:

Winfield

Date of Publication:

2007

Vol:

16

Page:

90

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Philip Kelley, Scott Lewis, Edward Hagan (ed.), The Brownings' Correspondence, (Winfield, 2007), 16, p. 90, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=19611, accessed: 22 November 2024


Additional Comments:

None

   
   
Green Turtle Web Design