Record Number: 8650

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'[B]e not thrown into wild delight because his genius has shone forth--misfortune & rage have occasioned this & whenever he may speak himself [underlined] Lord Byron will succeed--self is the sole inspirer of his genius he cannot like Homer Dante Virgil Milton Dryden Spencer Gray--Goldsmith [underlined] Tasso write on other subjects well[--]but what he feels he can describe extravagantly well--& therefore I never did doubt that he would one day or other write again as at first--but for God sake do not let this circumstance make you forget what a Rogue he is'.

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 13 Oct 1816 and 15 Oct 1816

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

city: London

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:

Lady Caroline Lamb

Age:

Adult (18-100+)

Gender:

Female

Date of Birth:

13 Nov 1785

Socio-Economic Group:

Royalty / aristocracy

Occupation:

socialite, novelist, influential member of the Whig political elite

Religion:

Christian

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:

George Gordon Lord Byron

Title:

Childe Harold's Pilgrimage, Canto the Third

Genre:

Poetry

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

1816

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

8650

Source:

Print

Author:

Lady Caroline Lamb (n?e Ponsonby)

Editor:

Paul Douglass

Title:

The Whole Disgraceful Truth: Selected Letters of Lady Caroline Lamb

Place of Publication:

New York

Date of Publication:

2006

Vol:

n/a

Page:

155-56

Additional Comments:

Letter to John Murray. 13 or 15 October 1816.

Citation:

Lady Caroline Lamb (n?e Ponsonby), Paul Douglass (ed.), The Whole Disgraceful Truth: Selected Letters of Lady Caroline Lamb, (New York, 2006), n/a, p. 155-56, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=8650, accessed: 22 November 2024

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Additional Comments:

Douglass does not infer which text Lady Caroline's letter discusses, but it seems probable that it is the third canto of Childe Harold. Though Douglass dates the letter October and the third canto was not published until November, it is still possible, if not probable, that Lady Caroline read an advance copy.