Five Years in an English University

The daily life and experiences of American Charles Astor Bristed (1820–1874) as an undergraduate at Trinity College, Cambridge.

Charles Astor Bristed (Author)

9781108014809, Cambridge University Press

Paperback / softback, published 26 August 2010

436 pages
21.6 x 14 x 2.5 cm, 0.55 kg

Charles Astor Bristed (1820–1874) was an American scholar and author, and the first American writer to defend American English spelling. Having graduated from Trinity College in 1845 he published this account of his experiences at the university in 1852 to provide accurate, first-hand information for Americans about study in an English university, with the intention of starting a debate over the inclusion of aspects of English higher education in the American system. Volume 1 contains his recollections of his time in Cambridge as an undergraduate, with detailed descriptions of daily life, examinations, lectures and activities outside academia. Written for those with no experience of the university, this volume provides a valuable insight into the daily life of a student at Cambridge in the middle of the nineteenth century while also providing explanations for the aspects of the institution which to the outsider might seem strange.

Preface
1. First impressions of Cambridge
2. Some particulars, rather egotistical, but very necessary
3. Introduction to college life
4. The Cantab language
5. An American student's first impressions at Cambridge and on Cambridge
6. Freshman temptations and experiences
7. The Boat Race
8. A Trinity supper party
9. The May examination
10. The first long vacation
11. The second year
12. Third year
13. Private tuition
14. Long vacation amusements
15. A second edition of third year
16. The scholarship examination
17. The reading party
18. Sawdust pudding with ballad sauce
19. 'En Xurou Akmh'
20. How I came to take a degree
21. The Polloi and the civil law classes
22. The classical tripos
23. A visit to Eton
24. Being extinguished
25. Reading for a Trinity fellowship
26. The study of theology at Cambridge
27. Recent changes at Cambridge.

Subject Areas: British & Irish history [HBJD1]