Record Number: 22002

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

W. M. Thackeray to Alfred Tennyson, [September-] October [1859]: 'I owe you a letter of happiness and thanks. Sir, about three weeks ago, when I was ill in bed, I read the "Idylls of the King," and I thought, "Oh I must write to him now, for this pleasure, this delight, ths splendour of happiness which I have been enjoying." But I should have blotted the sheets, 'tis ill writing on one's back. The letter full of gratitude never went as far as the post-office and how comes it now? 'D'abord, a bottle of claret [...] Then afterwards sitting here, an old magazine, Fraser's Magazine, 1850, and I come on a poem out of "The Princess" which says "I hear the horns of Elfland blowing blowing," no its "the horns of Elfland faintly blowing" [...] and reading the lines, which only one man in the world could write, I thought about the other horns of Elfland blowing in full strength, and Arthur in gold armour, and Guinevere in gold hair [...] You have made me as happy as I was when a child with the Arabian Nights [...] I have had out of that dear book the greatest delight that has ever come to me since I was a young man; to write and think about it makes me almost young'.

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

Between 1 Aug 1859 and 31 Oct 1859

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

n/a

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:

William Makepeace Thackeray

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1811

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Writer

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

India

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

Alfred Tennyson

Title:

Idylls of the King

Genre:

Fiction, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

22002

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:

444-445

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by his Son, (London, 1897), 1, p. 444-445, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=22002, accessed: 22 December 2024

---

Additional Comments:

None