Record Number: 22436

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

' [Johnson having asked for details about Lord Peterborough] "But, (said his Lordship [Lord Eliot,) the best account of Lord Peterborough that I have happened to meet with, is in "Captain Carleton's Memoirs". Carleton was descended of an ancestor who had distinguished himself at the siege of Derry. He was an officer; and, what was rare at that time, had some knowledge of engineering". Johnson said, he had never heard of the book. Lord Eliot had it at Port Eliot; but, after a good deal of enquiry, procured a copy in London, and sent it to Johnson, who told Sir Joshua Reynolds that he was going to bed when it came, but was so much pleased with it, that he sat up till he had read it through, and found in it such an air of truth, that he could not doubt of its authenticity; adding, with a smile, (in allusion to Lord Eliot's having recently been raised to the peerage,) "I did not think a [italics] young Lord [end italics] could have mentioned to me a book in the English history that was not known to me".'

Century:

1700-1799

Date:

From: 27 Jun 1784

Country:

England

Time

n/anight

Place:

city: London

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:

Samuel Johnson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

18 Sep 1709

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

writer

Religion:

Anglican

Country of Origin:

England

Country of Experience:

England

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Daniel Defoe

Title:

Memoirs of Captain George Carleton

Genre:

History, Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

owned
gift from Lord Eliot

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Source Information:

Record ID:

22436

Source:

Print

Author:

James Boswell

Editor:

R.W. Chapman

Title:

Life of Johnson

Place of Publication:

Oxford

Date of Publication:

1980

Vol:

n/a

Page:

1320

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

James Boswell, R.W. Chapman (ed.), Life of Johnson, (Oxford, 1980), p. 1320, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=22436, accessed: 22 December 2024

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Additional Comments:

Original date of publication 1791.