The Reading Experience Database 1450-1945 contains more than 25,000 pieces ofevidence about reading habits and practices over five centuries, and of these,more than 1500 directly discuss the literary style of the works read, whileothers make indirect comments on style. This evidence shows literary critics andcommon readers alike commenting on issues of 'good' or 'imitable' style;describing how easy the work is to read aloud, recording their impressions ofthe 'morality' of the style; identifying anonymous authors by their style; andmaking literary judgements on the basis of style. By tracing these remarks overa long historical period (1450 to 1945), we can reconstruct the prevailingstylistic concerns of individual readers and communities of readers, and testgrand historical or literary narratives against the everyday experiences ofcommon readers. This article focuses on the period 1800-1945, and considers theways in which the historicist and evidence-based methods of the new sub-discipline of the history of reading might be used to complement traditionalstylistic analyses and methods.
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