Record Number: 32392

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

(1) '...also dipped often into Boswell's "Life of Johnson". Being entirely made up of conversation I don't think it is a book to be read continuously, tho' it is very good fun in bits.' (2) 'I have been dipping into Boswell, whom I grow to like better and better.'

Century:

1900-1945

Date:

Between 27 Sep 1916 and 31 Oct 1916

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

Great Bookham
Surrey
'Gastons'

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:

Clive Staples Lewis

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

29 Nov 1898

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Student

Religion:

Church of England

Country of Origin:

Northern Ireland

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:

James Boswell

Title:

The Life of Samuel Johnson

Genre:

Biography

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

32392

Source:

Print

Author:

C. S. Lewis

Editor:

Walter Hooper

Title:

C. S. Lewis Collected Letters

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

2000

Vol:

1

Page:

228, 234

Additional Comments:

(1) From a letter to Arthur Greeves, [4 October 1916] (2) From a letter to his father, 12 October 1916

Citation:

C. S. Lewis, Walter Hooper (ed.), C. S. Lewis Collected Letters, (London, 2000), 1, p. 228, 234, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=32392, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

Lewis did not own this book: he writes to Greeves, 25 October 1916: 'I am sure Lockhart's Life of Scott would be good, but ... at any rate I had sooner get Boswell if I were going to make a start on biography.' (Letters, v.1, p.241) His knowledge of Boswell's Johnson proved useful when a quotation from it formed the English essay subject in the Oxford University scholarship exam: 'People confound liberty of thinking with liberty of talking.' (From a letter to his father, 7 December 1916, v.1, p.262). Boswell remained a well-loved companion throughout Lewis's life.