Audio recording: Henry Fielding Dickens reminisces about learning shorthand with his father
Dublin Core
Title
Audio recording: Henry Fielding Dickens reminisces about learning shorthand with his father
Subject
shorthand
shorthand learning
dictation
Description
Reading of an extract in which Dickens's son recalls lessons with his father
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
Henry Dickens.wav
Sound Item Type Metadata
Duration
1:14
Transcription
Title: Henry Fielding Dickens reminisces about learning shorthand with his father
Transcription: These lessons were great fun, though I found it was by no means an easy science to learn […] To take down a speech quickly and correctly you must have all your faculties in perfect order, and that is where I experienced a special difficulty in my own case. This arose from the kind of speeches which my father delivered for me to practise on, speeches which shortly reduced my mind to a state of wild confusion. They were of the character you would expect from a street tub orator or from a speaker on the hustings or a parody of orations in the House of Commons. These soon reduced me almost to a state of collapse in consequence of the laughter which followed on them; and when I say laughter, I mean laughter on the part of both of us. For he himself, tickled by the ridiculous nature of his own fancies, gave way to fits of laughter only equalled by wild bursts on my part. This part of my training was most amusing, but was not productive of much progress.
Transcription: These lessons were great fun, though I found it was by no means an easy science to learn […] To take down a speech quickly and correctly you must have all your faculties in perfect order, and that is where I experienced a special difficulty in my own case. This arose from the kind of speeches which my father delivered for me to practise on, speeches which shortly reduced my mind to a state of wild confusion. They were of the character you would expect from a street tub orator or from a speaker on the hustings or a parody of orations in the House of Commons. These soon reduced me almost to a state of collapse in consequence of the laughter which followed on them; and when I say laughter, I mean laughter on the part of both of us. For he himself, tickled by the ridiculous nature of his own fancies, gave way to fits of laughter only equalled by wild bursts on my part. This part of my training was most amusing, but was not productive of much progress.
Collection
Citation
Gerrard, Dominic, “Audio recording: Henry Fielding Dickens reminisces about learning shorthand with his father,” The Dickens Code, accessed July 19, 2025, https://dickenscode.omeka.net/items/show/19.