Record Number: 5836

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'During these twelve months [in prison] I read with deep interest and much profit Gibbon's "Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", Hume's "History of England", and many other standard works- amongst others, Mosheims "Ecclesiastical History". The reading of that book would have made me a free thinker if I had not been one before.

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1823 and 31 Dec 1824

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: Coldbath Fields
other location: Prison room shared with William Tunbridge

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:

James Watson

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

1799

Socio-Economic Group:

Labourer (non-agricultural)

Occupation:

Prisoner. Arrested when working as Shopman, in Richard Carlile's bookshop in the Strand, for selling a copy of Plamer's Principles of Nature..

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

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Text Being Read:

Author:

David Hume

Title:

The History of England

Genre:

History

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

borrowed (other)

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Source Information:

Record ID:

5836

Source:

Print

Author:

n/a

Editor:

David Vincent

Title:

Testaments of Radicalism

Place of Publication:

London

Date of Publication:

1977

Vol:

n/a

Page:

111

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

David Vincent (ed.), Testaments of Radicalism, (London, 1977), p. 111, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=5836, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

None