Audio recording: Dickens talks about his lifelong relationship with shorthand in an 1865 speech to the Newspaper Press Fund

Dublin Core

Title

Audio recording: Dickens talks about his lifelong relationship with shorthand in an 1865 speech to the Newspaper Press Fund

Subject

shorthand

Description

Reading of an extract from Dickens's 1865 ‘Speech to the Newspaper Press Fund’, in which he describes his habit of following speeches as if taking shorthand notes

Creator

Gerrard, Dominic

Date

2023

Rights

You may use this recording in accordance with the license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ Credit: Dominic Gerrard

Format

audio/wav

Language

English

Identifier

Speech to Press Fund.wav

Sound Item Type Metadata

Duration

0:34

Transcription

Title: Dickens talks about his lifelong relationship with shorthand in an 1865 speech to the Newspaper Press Fund
Transcription: To this present year of my life, when I sit in this hall, or where not, hearing a dull speech—the phenomenon does occur—I sometimes beguile the tedium of the moment by mentally following the speaker in the old way; and sometimes, if you can believe me, I even find my hand going on the table cloth, taking an imaginary note of it all.

Collection

Tags

Citation

Gerrard, Dominic, “Audio recording: Dickens talks about his lifelong relationship with shorthand in an 1865 speech to the Newspaper Press Fund,” The Dickens Code, accessed March 14, 2026, https://dickenscode.omeka.net/items/show/18.