Found amidst the manuscript of Symonds’ Walt Whitman: A Study, in his hand:
Advice to a young man on the method of Reading. 1) A real love of knowledge, curiosity to examine thoughts and approach persons through books, is indispensable. 2) Submit to the author, get inside him by sympathy. Then return to criticize in detail. 3) Read with pencil in hand, jot down striking things and thoughts, trace argument in skeleton. 4) Write out abstracts or critiques of books read. 5) Or at least keep a list of books read. 6) Study over and over again one or two classics. 7) Exchange thoughts on what you read with persons engaged in the same pursuits, if possible of a different complexion of mind from your own.
I don’t have any context for it—I don’t even know whether it’s Symonds’ own advice or whether he copied it from somewhere else—but it’s delightful all the same.
Emily Rutherford 