Record Number: 6624
Reading Experience:
Evidence:
''When I was seven years old [...] I was kept from chapel one Sunday afternoon by some ailment or other. When the door closed behind the other chapel-goers, I looked at the books on the table. The ugliest-looking of them was turned down open; and my turning it up was one of the leading incidents of my life. That plain, clumsy, calf-bound volume was "Paradise Lost";...there was something about Satan cleaving Chaos, which made me turn to the poetry; and my mental destiny was fixed for the next seven years.'
Century:1800-1849
Date:Between 12 Jun 1810 and 11 Jun 1811
Country:England
Timeafternoon: Sunday
Place:city: Norwich
county: Norfolk
(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:Child (0-17)
Gender:Female
Date of Birth:12 Jun 1802
Socio-Economic Group:Clerk / tradesman / artisan / smallholder
child of manufacturer
child
Religion:Unitarian Christian
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:Paradise Lost
Genre:Poetry
Form of Text:Print: Book
Publication DetailsSmith, Elder, & Co,. 15 Waterloo Place, London
Provenanceowned
Copy owned by her family
Source Information:
Record ID:6624
Source:Harriet Martineau
Editor:n/a
Title:Harriet Martineau's Autobiography
Place of Publication:London
Date of Publication:1877
Vol:1
Page:42
Additional Comments:
Smith, Elder, & Co,. 15 Waterloo Place, London. Third edition. In 3 volumes.
Citation:
Harriet Martineau, Harriet Martineau's Autobiography, (London, 1877), 1, p. 42, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=6624, accessed: 21 December 2024
Additional Comments:
Initial experience was silent & solitary, some of the subsequent reading was done with company present.
