Record Number: 20697
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'In this [producing a biography of Johnson] he has not been very successful, as I have found upon a perusal of those papers, which have been since transferred to me. Sir John Hawkins's ponderous labours, I must acknowledge, exhibit a [italics] farrago [end italics], of which a considerable portion is not devoid of entertainment to the lovers of literary gossiping; but besides its being swelled out with long unnecessary extracts from various works [...], a very small part of it relates to the person who is the subject of the book; and, in that, there is such an inaccuracy in the statement of facts, as in so solemn an author is hardly excusable, and certainly makes his narrative very unsatisfactory'.
Century:1700-1799
Date:Between 1 Jan 1787 and 31 Dec 1791
Country:England or Scotland
Timen/a
Place:n/a
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:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:29 Oct 1740
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:lawyer and author
Religion:n/a
Country of Origin:Scotland
Country of Experience:England or Scotland
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:Life of Samuel Johnson
Genre:Biography
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:20697
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R. W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:20
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R. W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson , (Oxford, 1980), p. 20, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20697, accessed: 22 November 2024
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.
