Arthur Reade

Arthur Reade is known from public-domain editions of Tea and Tea Drinking, a nineteenth-century work that explores the history of tea, its spread in England, and the customs that grew around it. The book blends anecdote, social observation, and practical discussion, giving modern readers a window into how ordinary pleasures were understood in Victorian life.

Records that are easy to confirm online are quite limited, so a full personal biography is hard to reconstruct with confidence. Based on the editions currently available, he appears to have written in a clear, accessible style aimed at general readers rather than specialists.

That makes his work appealing today as both a period document and an enjoyable read: it captures how one everyday drink could open into a broader story about trade, fashion, health, and society.