Record Number: 21473

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'Throughout the autumn and winter evenings [of 1854] he [Alfred Tennyson] translated aloud to my mother the sixth Aeneid of Virgil and Homer's description of Hades, and they read Dante's Inferno together. Whewell's Plurality of Worlds he also carefully studied. "It is to me anything," he writes, "but a satisfactory book. It is inconceivable that the whole Universe was created merely for us who live in this third-rate planet of a third-rate sun."'

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Sep 1854 and 31 Dec 1854

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

county: Isle of Wight
specific address: Farringford House

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

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Reader / Listener / Reading Group:

Reader:

Alfred Tennyson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

6 Aug 1809

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

Emily Tennyson

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Virgil

Title:

Aeneid VI

Genre:

Classics, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

In reader's own (oral) translation

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

21473

Source:

Print

Author:

Hallam Tennyson

Editor:

n/a

Title:

Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1897

Vol:

1

Page:

379

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, (London, 1897), 1, p. 379, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=21473, accessed: 11 March 2025

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Additional Comments:

None