Record Number: 33905
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
‘I have employ’d the last term chiefly in making myself master of Pindar...I have not found the former very difficult, any further than as deep thinking and conceal’d connection in a writer always demand deep thinking and close attention in the reader: his numerous historical and mythological allusions certainly require considerable collateral knowledge, but I think he is rarely liable to the charge of obscurity. I am obliged to you for more correct notions of his style and peculiar excellence than I could have gathered from the ordinary cant; certainly at least I could discover very little of that fire and precipitation so much talk'd of in him; nor does it seem a very reasonable supposition that frequent digressions are a sign of hurry and ardour. Pindar many not unaptly be compared to a boy going to school, who picks every flower by the road side, merely because his journey's end is unpleasant. ...'
Century:1800-1849
Date:Between 1 Jan 1817 and 18 Mar 1817
Country:England
Timen/a
Place:city: Oxford
county: Oxfordshire
specific address: Merton College
(Reader):
silent aloud unknown
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
(Listener):
solitary in company unknown
single serial unknown
Reader / Listener / Reading Group:
Reader: Age:Adult (18-100+)
Gender:Male
Date of Birth:19 Sep 1796
Socio-Economic Group:Professional / academic / merchant / farmer
Occupation:Oxford undergraduate student
Religion:Church of England
Country of Origin:England
Country of Experience:England
Listeners present if any:e.g family, servants, friends
n/a
Additional Comments:
n/a
Text Being Read:
Author: Title:[unknown]
Genre:Classics, Poetry, Philosophy
Form of Text:Print: Book, university set text
Publication Detailsn/a
Provenanceunknown
Source Information:
Record ID:33905
Source:Hartley Coleridge
Editor:Grace Evelyn and Earl Leslie Griggs
Title:Letters of Hartley Coleridge
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1936
Vol:n/a
Page:14-15
Additional Comments:
Letter from Hartley Coleridge to Samuel Taylor Coleridge, 18 March 1817, Merton College.
Citation:
Hartley Coleridge, Grace Evelyn and Earl Leslie Griggs (ed.), Letters of Hartley Coleridge, (London, 1936), n/a, p. 14-15, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=33905, accessed: 26 September 2024
Additional Comments:
This letter also mentions Aristotle (see separate record) and 'Nemesius', which Hartley was asked to translate by his father but which he has been unable to find: 'I cannot tell you that I have proceeded on the work you proposed to me, being unable to procure a copy of Nemesius in Oxford, although it was published there in 8vo., 1671.' Hartley also says of his university studies: 'There are many things I stand in need of your instruction in, both in classics and other matters, particularly Logic, in which a Parrot might pass an examination at Oxford'.