Record Number: 23100

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

From Hallam Tennyson's account of his father's last days: 'On Sept. 3rd [1892] he complained of weakness and of pain in his jaw [...] 'On Wednesday the 29th we telegraphed for Sir Andrew Clark [?physician] [...] 'He read Job, and St Matthew, and Miss Swanwick's new book on Poets as the Interpreters of the Age. Sir Andrew arrived, and did not think so badly of him as I did. He and my father fell to discussing Gray's "Elegy" [...] 'On Friday my wife read him an article in the Times on the colonization of Uganda, for which he asked [...] 'On Monday morning at eight o'clock he sent me for his Shakespeare. I took him Steevens's edition, Lear, Cymbeline, and Troilus and Cressida, three plays which he loved dearly. 'He read two or three lines, and told Dr Dabbs that he should never get well again. We asked him later whether he felt better: he answered, "The doctor says I am." At his request I read some Shakespeare to him'.

Century:

1850-1899

Date:

4 Oct 1892

Country:

England

Time

morning

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

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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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

William Shakespeare

Title:

King Lear, Cymbeline, Troilus and Cressida

Genre:

Drama, Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

In edition by Steevens

Provenance

owned

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Source Information:

Record ID:

23100

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:

2

Page:

425

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Hallam Tennyson, Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir by His Son, (London, 1897), 2, p. 425, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=23100, accessed: 30 December 2024

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Additional Comments:

Alfred Tennyson died on 6 October 1892. Text/s read possibly in separate volumes; on p.429 of source Hallam Tennyson records that his father was buried with his volume of Cymbeline.