Record Number: 8947

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Reading Experience:

Evidence:

'I also read, in 1813, the first six dialogues (in the common arrangement) of Plato, from the Euthyphron to the Theaetetus inclusive: which last dialogue, I venture to think, would have been better omitted, as it was totally impossible I should understand it.'

Century:

1800-1849

Date:

Between 1 Jan 1813 and 31 Dec 1813

Country:

England

Time

n/a

Place:

other location: Presumably at James Mill?s house in Newington Green, 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:

John Stuart Mill

Age:

Child (0-17)

Gender:

Male

Date of Birth:

20 May 1806

Socio-Economic Group:

Professional / academic / merchant / farmer

Occupation:

Administrator in the East India Company (joins the company as a clerk in 1823, retires as chief of his office and Examiner of India Correspondence in

Religion:

Atheist

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:

Plato

Title:

dialogues

Genre:

Classics, Philosophy

Form of Text:

Print: Book

Publication Details

n/a

Provenance

unknown

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Source Information:

Record ID:

8947

Source:

Print

Author:

John Stuart Mill

Editor:

Jack Stillinger

Title:

Autobiography

Place of Publication:

Boston

Date of Publication:

1969

Vol:

n/a

Page:

5-6

Additional Comments:

n/a

Citation:

John Stuart Mill, Jack Stillinger (ed.), Autobiography, (Boston, 1969), p. 5-6, http://www.open.ac.uk/Arts/reading/UK/record_details.php?id=8947, accessed: 21 December 2024

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Additional Comments:

Editor suggests that the other dialogues read included Apology, Crito, and Phaedo. Mill was translating the text under his father?s guidance, as part of his education in the Ancient Greek language. He reveals on p.6 that, since there were no available dictionaries he could use, he had to interrupt his father?s work (on his History of India) to ask him for the meaning of all words unfamiliar to him at the time.