Record Number: 24207

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

John Wilson Croker to his wife, 20 July 1815: '[General] Becker showed us a copy of Buonaparte's letter to the Prince Regent, in which he says that driven out of home by internal factions and foreign enemies, he came, like Themistocles, to sit on the British hearth, and to claim the protection of our laws [...] In reading this, when I came to "[italics]Themistocle[end italics]" who certainly was the last person I expected to meet there, I could not help bursting out into a loud laugh, which astonished the French, who thought all beautiful, but "[italics]Themistocle[end italics]" sublime and pathetic. I called the whole letter a base flattery, and said Buonaparte should have died rather than have written such a one; the only proper answer would have been to have enclosed him a copy of one of his Moniteurs, in which he accused England of assassination and every other horror.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jul 1815 and 20 Jul 1815

Country:

France

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Paris

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:

John Wilson Croker

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

20 Dec 1780

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Secretary to the Admiralty

Religion:

n/a

Country of Origin:

Ireland

Country of Experience:

France

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

n/a

Additional Comments:

n/a

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Text Being Read:

Author:

Napoleon Bonaparte

Title:

letter to the Prince Regent

Genre:

Politics

Form of Text:

Manuscript: Unknown, Copied.

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

24207

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

Louis L. Jennings

Title:

The Croker Papers: The Correspondence and Diaries of The Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker, LL.,D., F.R.S.

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1884

Vol:

1

Page:

68-69

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Louis L. Jennings (ed.), The Croker Papers: The Correspondence and Diaries of The Late Right Honourable John Wilson Croker, LL.,D., F.R.S., (London, 1884), 1, p. 68-69, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=24207, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

None