Record Number: 29008

---

Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'He [Joseph Conrad] would read to me for long periods and make birds and other things out of sheets of paper which he folded with great dexterity. [...] His choice of books always met with my approval; I believe he must have read them all during his youth and enjoyed re-reading them almost as much as I enjoyed listening. Among them were Charles Kingsley's "Greek Heroes", Fennimore [sic] Cooper's "The Last of the Mohicans", "[The] Deerslayer", "The Pathfinder" and Captain Marryat's "Peter Simple", "[Mr] Midshipman Easy",etc.[...] Some of these volumes [...] are still on my bookshelves here with his signature inside the cover.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 23 May 1907 and 19 Aug 1907

Country:

Switzerland

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Champel-les-Bains
specific address: Hôtel-Pension de la Roseraie
location in dwelling: probably child's bedroom

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:

Joseph Conrad

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

3 Dec 1857

Socio-Economic Group:

Gentry
'Szlachta', or Polish landed gentry/nobility

Occupation:

Master mariner and author

Religion:

Roman Catholic

Country of Origin:

Poland

Country of Experience:

Switzerland

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

Borys Conrad

Additional Comments:

n/a

---

Text Being Read:

Author:

James Fenimore Cooper

Title:

The Pathfinder or The Inland Sea

Genre:

Fiction, Children's Lit

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

first published 1840

Provenance

owned

---

Source Information:

Record ID:

29008

Source:

Print

Author:

Borys Conrad

Editor:

n/a

Title:

My Father: Joseph Conrad

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1970

Vol:

n/a

Page:

54

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

Borys Conrad, My Father: Joseph Conrad, (London, 1970), p. 54, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=29008, accessed: 22 November 2024

---

Additional Comments:

This experience can be dated to the period during which Borys Conrad was recovering from whooping cough and rheumatic fever. See also Record ID 19404, Conrad to David Garnett, December 1902.