Record Number: 20710
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
'what he read during these two years [between Stourbridge school and Oxford] , he told me, was not works of mere amusement, "not voyages and travels, but all literature, Sir, all ancient writers, all manly: though but little Greek, only some of Anacreon and Hesiod; but in this irregular manner (added he) I had looked into a great many books, which were not commonly known at the Universities, where they seldom read any books but what are put into their hands by their tutors; so that when I came to Oxford, Dr Adams, now master of Pembroke College, told me I was the best qualified for the university that he had ever known come there".'
Century:1700-1799
Date:Between 1 Jan 1725 and 1 Oct 1728
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: Lichfield
county: Staffordshire
(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:18 Sep 1709
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:later 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: Title:n/a
Genre:Classics, Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:20710
Source:James Boswell
Editor:R. W. Chapman
Title:Life of Johnson
Place of Publication:Oxford
Date of Publication:1980
Vol:n/a
Page:44
Additional Comments:
n/a
Citation:
James Boswell, R. W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson , (Oxford, 1980), p. 44, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=20710, accessed: 13 March 2025
Additional Comments:
Originally published 1791.
