1825-1840
_American Writers and English Critics_
It is customary to refer to the early writings of Washington Irving as
works that marked the time when literature pure and simple developed in
America. Such writing as had hitherto attracted attention concerned
itself, not with matters of the imagination, but with facts and theories
of current and momentous interest. Religion and the affairs of the
separate commonwealths were uppermost in people's minds in colonial
days; political warfare and the defence of the policy of Congress
absorbed attention in Revolutionary times; and later the necessity of
expounding principles of government and of fostering a national feeling
produced a literature of fact rather than of fancy.
Gradually all this had changed. A new generation had grown up with more
leisure for writing and more time to devote to the general culture of
the public. The English periodical with its purpose of "improving the
taste, awakening the attention, and amending the heart," had once met
these requirements. Later on these periodicals had been keenly enjoyed,
but at the same time there appeared American magazines, modelled after
them, but largely filled by contributions from literary Americans. Early
in the nineteenth century such publications were current in most large
towns. From the short essays and papers in these periodicals to the
tales of Cooper and Irving the step, after all, was not a long one.
The children's literature of amusement developed, after the end of the
eighteenth century, in a somewhat similar way, although as usual tagging
along after that of their parents.
With the constantly increasing population the production of children's
books grew more profitable, and in eighteen hundred and two Benjamin
Johnson made an attempt to publish a "Juvenile Magazine" in
Philadelphia. Its purpose was to be a "Miscellaneous Repository of
Useful Information;" but the contents were so largely drawn from English
sources that it was probably, like the toy-books, pirated from an
English publisher. Indeed, one of the few extant volumes contains only
one article of distinctly American composition among essays on
_Education_, the _Choice of a Wife_, _Love_, papers on natural history,
selections from poems by Coleridge and Cowper; and by anonymous makers
of verse about _Consumption_ and _Friendship_. The American
contribution, a discussion of President Washington's will, has already
been mentioned.
In the same year, 1802, the "Juvenile Olio" was started, edited by
"Amyntor," but like Johnson's "Juvenile Magazine," was only issued at
irregular intervals and was short-lived.
Other ventures in children's periodicals continued to be made, however.
The "Juvenile Magazine," with "Religious, Moral, and Entertaining Pieces
in Prose and Verse," was compiled by Arthur Donaldson, and sold in
eighteen hundred and eleven as a monthly in Philadelphia--then the
literary centre--for twelve and a half cents a number. In eighteen
hundred and thirteen, in the same city, the "Juvenile Portfolio" made
its appearance, possibly in imitation of Joseph Dennie's "Port Folio;"
but it too failed from lack of support and interest.
Boston proved more successful in arousing attention to the possibilities
in a well-conducted children's periodical, although it was not until
thirteen years later that Lydia Maria Child established the "Juvenile
Miscellany for the Instruction and Amusement of Youth." Three numbers
were issued in 1826, and thereafter it appeared every other month until
August, 1834, when it was succeeded by a magazine of the same name
conducted by Sarah J. Hale.
This periodical is a landmark in the history of story-writing for the
American child. Here at last was an opportunity for the editors to give
to their subscribers descriptions of cities in their own land in place
of accounts of palaces in Persia; biographies of national heroes instead
of incidents in the life of Mahomet; and tales of Indians rather than
histories of Arabians and Turks. For its pages Mrs. Sigourney, Miss
Eliza Leslie, Mrs. Wells, Miss Sedgwick, and numerous anonymous
contributors gladly sent stories of American scenes and incidents which
were welcomed by parents as well as by children.
In the year following the first appearance of Mrs. Hale's "Juvenile
Miscellany," the March number is typical of the amusement and
instruction the editor endeavored to provide. This contained a life of
Benjamin Franklin (perhaps the earliest child's life of the philosopher
and statesman), a tale of an Indian massacre of an entire settlement in
Maine, an essay on memory, a religious episode, and extracts from a
traveller's journal. The traveller, quite evidently a Bostonian,
criticised New York in a way not unfamiliar in later days, as a city
where "the love of literature was less strong than in some other parts
of the United States;" and then in trying to soften the statement, she
fell into a comparison with Philadelphia, also made many times since the
gentle critic observed the difference. "New York," she wrote, "has
energy, spirit, and bold, lofty enterprise, totally wanting in
Philadelphia, ... a place of neat, well regulated plans." Also, like the
English story-book of the previous century, this American "Miscellany"
introduced _Maxims for a Student_, found, it cheerfully explained,
"among the manuscripts of a deceased friend." Puzzles and conundrums
made an entertaining feature, and as the literary _chef d'oeuvre_ was
inserted a poem supposed to be composed by a babe in South Carolina, but
of which the author was undoubtedly Mrs. Gilman, whose ideas of a baby's
ability were certainly not drawn from her own nursery.
A rival to the "Juvenile Miscellany" was the "Youth's Companion,"
established at this time in Boston by Nathaniel P. Willis and the
Reverend Asa Rand. The various religious societies also began to issue
children's magazines for Sunday perusal: the Massachusetts Sunday School
Union beginning in 1828 the "Sabbath School Times," and other societies
soon following its example.
"Parley's Magazine," planned by Samuel G. Goodrich and published by
Lilly, Wait and Company of Boston, ran a successful course of nine years
from eighteen hundred and thirty-three. The prospectus declared the
intention of its conductors "to give descriptions of manners, customs,
and countries, Travels, Voyages, and Adventures in Various parts of the
world, interesting historical notes, Biography, particularly of young
persons, original tales, cheerful and pleasing Rhymes, and to issue the
magazine every fortnight." The popularity of the name of Peter Parley
insured a goodly number of subscriptions from the beginning, and the
life of "Parley's Magazine" was somewhat longer than any of its
predecessors.
In the south the idea of issuing a juvenile magazine was taken up by a
firm in Charleston, and the "Rose Bud" was started in eighteen hundred
and thirty. The "Rose Bud," a weekly, was largely the result of the
success of the "Juvenile Miscellany," as the editor of the southern
paper, Mrs. Gilman, was a valued contributor to the "Miscellany," and
had been encouraged in her plan of a paper for children of the south by
the Boston conductors of the northern periodical.
Mrs. Gilman was born in Boston, and at sixteen years of age had
published a poem most favorably criticised at the time. Marrying a
clergyman who settled in Charleston, she continued her literary work,
but was best known to our grandmothers as the author of "Recollections
of a New England Housekeeper." The "Rose Bud" soon blossomed into the
"Southern Rose," a family paper, but faded away in 1839.
Among other juvenile weeklies of the time may be mentioned the "Juvenile
Rambler" and the "Hive," which are chiefly interesting by reason of the
opportunity their columns offered to youthful contributors.
Another series of "miscellaneous repositories" for the instructive
enjoyment of little people was furnished by the Annuals of the period.
These, of course, were modelled after the adult Annuals revolving in
social circles and adorning the marble-topped tables of drawing-rooms in
both England and America.
Issued at the Christmas and New Year seasons, these children's Annuals
formed the conventional gift-book for many years, and publishers spared
no effort to make them attractive. Indeed, their red morocco, silk, or
embossed scarlet cloth bindings form a cheerful contrast to the dreary
array of black and drab cloth covering the fiction of both old and
young. Better illustrations were also introduced than the ugly cuts
"adorning" the other books for juvenile readers. Oliver Pelton, Joseph
Andrews (who ranked well as an engraver), Elisha Gallaudet, Joseph G.
Kellogg, Joseph I. Pease, and Thomas Illman were among the workers in
line-engraving whose early work served to illustrate, often
delightfully, these popular collections of children's stories.
Among the "Annualettes," "Keepsakes," "Evening Hours," and "Infant's
Hours" published at intervals after eighteen hundred and twenty-five the
"Token" stands preëminent. Edited by Samuel G. Goodrich (Peter Parley)
between the years eighteen hundred and twenty-eight and eighteen hundred
and forty-two, its contents and illustrations were almost entirely
American. Edward Everett, Bishop Doane, A.H. Everett, John Quincy Adams,
Longfellow, Hawthorne, Miss Sedgwick, Eliza Leslie, Dr. Holmes, Horace
Greeley, James T. Fields, and Gulian Verplanck--all were called upon to
make the "Token" an annual treat to children. Of the many stories
written for it, only Hawthorne's "Twice Told Tales" survive; but the
long list of contributors of mark in American literature cannot be
surpassed to-day by any child's book by contemporary authors. The
contents, although written in the style of eighty years ago, are
undoubtedly good from a literary standpoint, however out of date their
story-telling qualities may be. And, moreover, the "Token" assuredly
gave pleasure to the public for which its yearly publication was made.
[Illustration: _Children of the Cottage_]
By eighteen hundred and thirty-five the "Annual" was in full swing as a
popular publication. Then an international book was issued, "The
American Juvenile Keepsake," edited by Mrs. Hofland, the well-known
writer of English stories for children. Mrs. Hofland cried up her wares
in a manner quite different from that of the earlier literary ladies.
"My table of contents," she wrote in her introduction, "exhibits a list
of names not exceeded in reputation by any preceding Juvenile Annual;
for, although got up with a celerity almost distressing in the hurry it
imposed, such has been the kindness of my literary friends, that they
have left me little more to wish for." Among the English contributors
were Miss Mitford, Miss Jean Roberts, Miss Browne, and Mrs. Hall, the
ablest writers for English children, and already familiar to American
households.
Mrs. Hofland, herself, wrote one of its stories, noteworthy as an early
attempt of an English author to write for an American juvenile public.
She found her theme in the movement of emigration strong in England just
then among the laboring people. No amount of discouragement and bitter
criticism of the United States by the British press was sufficient to
stem appreciably the tide of laborers that flowed towards the country
whence came information of better wages and more work. Mrs. Hofland,
although writing for little Americans, could not wholly resist the
customary fling at American life and society. She acknowledged, however,
that long residence altered first impressions and brought out the kernel
of American character, whose husk only was visible to sojourners. She
deplored the fact that "gay English girls used only to the polished
society of London were likely to return with the impression that the men
were rude and women frivolous." This impression the author was inclined
to believe unjust, yet deemed it wise, because of the incredulous
(perhaps even in America!), to back her own opinion by a note saying
that this view was also shared by a valued friend who had lived fourteen
years in Raleigh, South Carolina.
Having thus done justice, in her own eyes, to conditions in the new
country, Mrs. Hofland, launched the laborer's family upon the sea, and
followed their travels from New York to Lexington, Kentucky, at that
time a land unknown to the average American child beyond some hazy
association with the name of Daniel Boone. It was thus comparatively
safe ground on which to place the struggles of the immigrants, who
prospered because of their English thrift and were an example to the
former residents. Of course the son grew up to prove a blessing to the
community, and eventually, like the heroes in old Isaiah Thomas's
adaptations of Newbery's good boys, was chosen Congressman.
There is another point of interest in connection with this English
author's tale. Whether consciously or not, it is a very good imitation
of Peter Parley's method of travelling with his characters in various
lands or over new country. It is, perhaps, the first instance in the
history of children's literature of an American story-writer influencing
the English writer of juvenile fiction. And it was not the only time. So
popular and profitable did Goodrich's style of story become that
somewhat later the frequent attempts to exploit anonymously and
profitably his pseudonymn in England as well as in America were loudly
lamented by the originator of the "Tales of Peter Parley." It is,
moreover, suggestive of the gradual change in the relations between the
two countries that anything written in America was thought worth
imitating. America, indeed, was beginning to supply incidents around
which to weave stories for British children and tales altogether made at
home for her own little readers.
In the same volume Mrs. S.C. Hall also boldly attempted to place her
heroine in American surroundings. Philadelphia was the scene chosen for
her tale; but, having flattered her readers by this concession to their
sympathies and interest, the author was still sufficiently insular to
doubt the existence of a competent local physician in this the earliest
medical centre in the United States. An English family had come to make
their home in the city, where the mother's illness necessitated the
attendance of a French doctor to make a correct diagnosis of her case.
An operation was advised, which the mother, Mrs. Allen, hesitated to
undergo in an unknown land. Emily, the fourteen-year-old daughter, urged
her not to delay, as she felt quite competent to be in attendance,
having had "five teeth drawn without screaming; nursed a brother through
the whooping-cough and a sister through the measles."
"Ma foi, Mademoiselle," said the French doctor, "you are very heroic;
why, let me see, you talk of being present at an operation, which I
would not hardly suffer my junior pupils to attend."
"Put," said the heroic damsel, "my resolution, sir, to any test you
please; draw one, two, three teeth, I will not flinch." And this courage
the writer thought could not be surpassed in a London child. It is
needless to say that Emily's fortitude was sufficient to endure the
sight of her mother's suffering, and to nurse her to complete recovery.
Evidently residence in America had not yet sapped the young girl's moral
strength, or reduced her to the frivolous creature an American woman was
reputed in England to be.
Among the home contributors to "The American Juvenile Keepsake" were
William L. Stone, who wrote a prosy article about animals; and Mrs.
Embury, called the Mitford of America (because of her stories of village
life), who furnished a religious tale to controvert the infidel
doctrines considered at the time subtly undermining to childish faith,
with probable reference to the Unitarian movement then gaining many
adherents. Mrs. Embury's stories were so generally gloomy, being
strongly tinged with the melancholy religious views of certain church
denominations, that one would suppose them to have been eminently
successful in turning children away from the faith she sought to
encourage. For this "Keepsake" the same lady let her poetical fancy take
flight in "The Remembrance of Youth is a Sigh," a somewhat lugubrious
and pessimistic subject for a child's Christmas Annual. Occasionally a
more cheerful mood possessed "Ianthe," as she chose to call herself, and
then we have some of the earliest descriptions of country life in
literature for American children. There is one especially charming
picture of a walk in New England woods upon a crisp October day, when
the children merrily hunt for chestnuts among the dry brown leaves,
and the squirrels play above their heads in the many colored boughs.
[Illustration: _Henrietta_]
Dr. Holmes has somewhere remarked upon the total lack of American nature
descriptions in the literature of his boyhood. No birds familiar to him
were ever mentioned; nor were the flowers such as a New England child
could ever gather. Only English larks and linnets, cowslips and
hawthorn, were to be found in the toy-books and little histories read to
him. "Everything was British: even the robin, a domestic bird," wrote
the doctor, "instead of a great fidgety, jerky, whooping thrush." But
when Peter Parley, Jacob Abbott, Lydia Maria Child, Mrs. Embury, and
Eliza Leslie began to write short stories, the Annuals and periodicals
abounded in American scenes and local color.
There was also another great incentive for writers to work for children.
This was the demand made for stories from the American Sunday School
Union, whose influence upon the character of juvenile literature was a
force bearing upon the various writers, and whose growth was coincident
with the development of the children's periodical literature.
The American Sunday School Union, an outgrowth of the several religious
publication societies, in eighteen hundred and twenty-four began to do
more extensive work, and therefore formed a committee to judge and
pronounce upon all manuscripts, which American writers were asked to
submit.
The sessions of the Sunday-schools were no longer held for illiterate
children only. The younger members of each parish or church were found
upon its benches each Sunday morning or afternoon. To promote and to
impress the religious teaching in these schools, rewards were offered
for well-prepared lessons and regular attendance. Also the scholars were
encouraged to use the Sunday-school library. For these different
purposes many books were needed, but naturally only those stamped with
the approval of the clergyman in charge were circulated.
The board of publication appointed by the American Sunday School
Union--composed chiefly of clergymen of certain denominations--passed
upon the merits of the many manuscripts sent in by piously inclined
persons, and edited such of them as proved acceptable. The marginal
notes on the pages of the first edition of an old Sunday-school favorite
bear witness to the painstaking care of the editors that the leaflets,
tracts, and stories poured in from all parts of the country should
"shine by reason of the truth contained," and "avoid the least
appearance, the most indirect insinuations, of anything which can
militate against the strictest ideas of propriety." The tales had also
to keep absolutely within the bounds of religion. Many were the stories
found lacking in direct religious teaching, or returned because religion
was not vitally connected with the plot, to be rewritten or sent
elsewhere for publication.
The hundreds of stories turned out in what soon became a mechanical
fashion were of two patterns: the one of the good child, a constant
attendant upon Sabbath School and Divine Worship, but who died young
after converting parent or worldly friend during a painful illness; the
other of the unregenerate youth, who turned away from the godly
admonition of mother and clergyman, refused to attend Sunday-school,
and consequently fell into evil ways leading to the thief's or
drunkard's grave. Often a sick mother was introduced to claim emotional
attention, or to use as a lay figure upon which to drape Scripture texts
as fearful warnings to the black sheep of the family. Indeed, the little
reader no sooner began to enjoy the tale of some sweet and gentle girl,
or to delight in the mischievous boy, than he was called upon to reflect
that early piety portended an early death, and youthful pranks led to a
miserable old age. Neither prospect offered much encouragement to hope
for a happy life, and from conversations with those brought up on this
form of religious culture, it is certain that if a child escaped without
becoming morbid and neurotic, there were dark and secret resolves to
risk the unpleasant future in favor of a happy present.
The stories, too, presented a somewhat paradoxical familiarity with the
ways of a mysterious Providence. This was exceedingly perplexing to the
thoughtful child, whose queries as to justice were too often hushed by
parent or teacher. In real life, every child expected, even if he did
not receive, a tangible reward for doing the right thing; but
Providence, according to these authors, immediately caused a good child
to become ill unto death. It is not a matter for surprise that the
healthy-minded, vigorous child often turned in disgust from the
Sunday-school library to search for Cooper's tales of adventure on his
father's book-shelves.
The correct and approved child's story, even if not issued under
religious auspices, was thoroughly saturated with religion. Whatever may
have been the practice of parents in regard to their own reading, they
wished that of the nursery to show not only an educational and moral,
but a religious tendency. The books for American children therefore
divided themselves into three classes: the denominational story, to set
forth the doctrines of one church; the educational tale; and the moral
narrative of American life.
The denominational stories produced by the several Sunday-school
societies were, as has been said, only a kind of scaffolding upon which
to build the teachings of the various churches. But their sale was
enormous, and a factor to be reckoned with because of their influence
upon the educational and moral tales of their period. By eighteen
hundred and twenty-seven, fifty-thousand books and tracts had been sent
out by one Sunday-school society alone.[204-A] There are few things more
remarkable in the history of juvenile literature than the growth of the
business of the American Sunday School Union. By eighteen hundred and
twenty-eight it had issued over seven hundred of these religious
trifles, varying from a sixteen-page duodecimo to a small octavo volume;
and most of these appear to have been written by Americans trying their
inexperienced pens upon a form of literature not then recognized as
difficult. The influence of such a flood of tiny books could hardly have
been other than morbid, although occasionally there floated down the
stream duodecimos which were grasped by little readers with eagerness.
Such volumes, one reader of bygone Sunday-school books tells us,
glimmered from the dark depths of death and prison scenes, and were
passed along with whispered recommendation until their well-worn covers
attracted the eye of the teacher, and were quickly found to be missing
from library shelves. Others were commended in their stead, such as
described the city boy showing the country cousin the town sights, with
most edifying conversation as to their history; or, again, amusement of
a light and alluring character was presumably to be found in the story
of a little maid who sat upon a footstool at her mother's knee, and
while she hemmed the four sides of a handkerchief, listened to the
account of missionary enterprises in the dark corners of the earth.
To us of to-day the small illustrations are perhaps the most interesting
feature, preserving as they do children's occupations and costumes. In
one book we see quaintly frocked and pantaletted girls and much buttoned
boys in Sunday-school. In another, entitled "Election Day," are pictured
two little lads watching, from the square in front of Independence Hall,
the handing in of votes for the President through a window of the famous
building--a picture that emphasizes the change in methods of casting the
ballot since eighteen hundred and twenty-eight.
That engravers were not always successful when called upon to embellish
the pages of the Sunday-school books, many of them easily prove. That
the designers of woodcuts were sometimes lacking in imagination when
obliged to depict Bible verses can have no better example than the
favorite vignette on title-pages portraying "My soul doth magnify the
Lord" as a man with a magnifying glass held over a blank space. Perhaps
equal in lack of imagination was the often repeated frontispiece of
"Mercy streaming from the Cross," illustrated by a large cross with an
effulgent rain beating upon the luxuriant tresses of a languishing lady.
There were many pictures but little art in the old-fashioned
Sunday-school library books.
It was in Philadelphia that one of the first, if not the first
children's library was incorporated in 1827 as the Apprentices' Library.
Eleven years later this library contained more than two thousand books,
and had seven hundred children as patrons. The catalogue of that year is
indicative of the prevalence of the Sunday-school book. "Adventures of
Lot" precedes the "Affectionate Daughter-in-Law," which is followed by
"Anecdotes of Christian Missions" and "An Alarm to Unconverted Sinners."
Turning the yellowed pages, we find "Hannah Swanton, the Casco Captive,"
histories of Bible worthies, the "Infidel Class," "Little Deceiver
Reclaimed," "Letters to Little Children," "Juvenile Piety," and
"Julianna Oakley." The bookish child of this decade could not escape
from the "Reformed Family" and the consumptive little Christian, except
by taking refuge in the parents' novels, collections of the British
poets and essayists, and the constantly increasing American writings for
adults. Perhaps in this way the Sunday-school books may be counted among
that long list of such things as are commonly called blessings in
disguise.
[Illustration: _A Child and her Doll_]
Aside from the strictly religious tale, the contents of the now
considerable output of Harper and Brothers, Mahlon Day, Samuel Wood and
Sons of New York; Cottons and Barnard, Lincoln and Edmunds, Lilly, Wait
and Company, Munroe and Francis of Boston; Matthew Carey, Conrad and
Parsons, Morgan and Sons, and Thomas T. Ashe of Philadelphia--to
mention but a few of the publishers of juvenile novelties--are
convincing proof that booksellers catered to the demand for stories with
a strong religious bias. The "New York Weekly," indeed, called attention
to Day's books as "maintaining an unbroken tendency to virtue and
piety."
When not impossibly pious, these children of anonymous fiction were
either insufferable prigs with a steel moral code, or so ill-bred as to
be equally impossible and unnatural. The favorite plan of their creators
was to follow Miss Edgeworth's device of contrasting the good and
naughty infant. The children, too, were often cousins: one, for example,
was the son of a gentleman who in his choice of a wife was influenced by
strict religious principles; the other boy inherited his disposition
from his mother, a lady of bland manners and fine external appearance,
but who failed to establish in her offspring "correct principles of
virtue, religion, and morality." The author paused at this point in the
narrative to discuss the frailties of the lady, before resuming its
slender thread. Who to-day could wade through with children the
good-goody books of that generation?
Happily, many of the writers for little ones chose to be unknown, for it
would be ungenerous to disparage by name these ladies who considered
their productions edifying, and in their ingenuousness never dreamed
that their stories were devoid of every quality that makes a child's
book of value to the child. They were literally unconscious that their
tales lacked that simplicity and directness in style, and they
themselves that knowledge of human nature, absolutely necessary to
construct a pleasing and profitable story. The watchwords of these
painstaking ladies were "religion, virtue, and morality," and heedless
of everything else, they found oblivion in most cases before they gained
recognition from the public they longed to influence.
The decade following eighteen hundred and thirty brought prominently to
the foreground six American authors among the many who occasioned brief
notice. Of these writers two were men and four were women. Jacob Abbott
and Samuel G. Goodrich wrote the educational tales, Abbott largely for
the nursery, while Goodrich devoted his attention mainly to books for
the little lads at school. The four women, Mrs. Sarah J. Hale, Miss
Eliza Leslie, Miss Catharine Sedgwick, and Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney,
wrote mainly for girls, and took American life as their subject. Mrs.
Hale wrote much for adults, but when editor of the "Juvenile
Miscellany," she made various contributions to it. Yet to-day we know
her only by one of her "Poems for Children," published in Boston in
eighteen hundred and thirty--"Mary had a Little Lamb."
Mary's lamb has travelled much farther than to school, and has even
reached that point when its authorship has been disputed. Quite recently
in the "Century Magazine" Mrs. Hale's claim to its composition has been
set forth at some length by Mr. Richard W. Hale, who shows clearly her
desire when more than ninety years of age to be recognized as the
originator of these verses, In fact, "shortly before her death," wrote
Mr. Hale, "she directed her son to write emphatically that every poem in
her book of eighteen hundred and thirty was of her own composition."
Although rarely seen in print, "Mary had a Little Lamb" has outlived
all other nursery rhymes of its day; perhaps because it had most truly
the quality, unusual at the time, of being told directly and simply--a
quality, indeed, that appeals to every generation.
Miss Leslie, like Mrs. Hale, did much editing, beginning on adult
gift-books and collections of housewife's receipts, and then giving most
of her attention to juvenile literature. As editor Miss Leslie did good
work on the "Violet" and the "Pearl," both gift-books for children. She
also abridged, edited, and rewrote "The Wonderful Traveller," and the
adventures of Munchausen, Gulliver, and Sindbad, heroes often
disregarded by this period of lack of imagination and over-supply of
educational theories. Also, as a writer of stories for little girls and
school-maidens, Eliza Leslie met with warm approval on both sides of the
Atlantic.
Undoubtedly the success of Eliza Leslie's "American Girls' Book,"
modelled after the English "Boy's Own Book," and published in 1831,
added to the popularity attained by her earlier work, although of this
she was but the compiler.
The "American Girls' Book" was intended for little girls, and by
dialogue, the prevailing mode of conveying instruction or amusement,
numerous games and plays were described. Already many of the pastimes
have gone out of fashion. "Lady Queen Anne" and "Robin's Alive," "a
dangerous game with a lighted stick," are altogether unknown; "Track the
Rabbit" has changed its name to "Fox and Geese;" "Hot Buttered Beans"
has found a substitute in "Hunt the Thimble;" and "Stir the Mush" has
given place to "Going to Jerusalem."
But Miss Leslie did more than preserve for us these old-fashioned
games. She has left sketches of children's ways and nature in her
various stories for little people. She shared, of course, in the habit
of moralizing characteristic of her day, but her children are childish,
and her heroines are full of the whims, and have truly the pleasures and
natural emotions, of real children.
Miss Leslie began her work for children in eighteen hundred and
twenty-seven, when "Atlantic Stories" were published, and as her
sketches of child-life appeared one after another, her pen grew more
sure in its delineation of characters and her talent was speedily
recognized. Even now "Birthday Stories" are worth reading and treasuring
because of the pictures of family life eighty years ago. The "Souvenir,"
for example, is a Christmas tale of old Philadelphia; the "Cadet's
Sister" sketches life at West Point, where the author's brother had been
a student; while the "Launch of the Frigate" and "Anthony and Clara"
tell of customs and amusements quite passed away. The charming
description of children shopping for their simple Christmas gifts, the
narrative of the boys who paid a poor lad in a bookstore to ornament
their "writing-pieces" for more "respectable presents" to parents, the
quiet celebration of the day itself, can ill be spared from the history
of child life and diversions in America. It is well to be reminded, in
these days of complex and expensive amusements, of some of the saner and
simpler pleasures enjoyed by children in Miss Leslie's lifetime.
All of this writer's books, moreover, have some real interest, whether
it be "Althea Vernon," with the description of summer life and fashions
at Far Rockaway (New York's Manhattan Beach of 1830), or "Henrietta
Harrison," with its sarcastic reference to the fashionable school where
the pupils could sing French songs and Italian operas, but could not be
sure of the notes of "Hail Columbia." Or again, the account is worth
reading of the heroine's trip to New York from Philadelphia. "Simply
habited in a plaid silk frock and Thibet shawl," little Henrietta
starts, under her uncle's protection, at five o'clock in the morning to
take the boat for Bordentown, New Jersey. There she has her first
experience of a railway train, and looks out of the window "at all the
velocity of the train will allow her to see." At Heightstown small
children meet the train with fruit and cakes to sell to hungry
travellers. And finally comes the wonderful voyage from Amboy to the
Battery in New York, which is not reached until night has fallen.
This is the simple explanation as to why Eliza Leslie's books met with
so generous a reception: they were full of the incidents which children
love, and unusually free from the affectations of the pious fictitious
heroine.
The stories of Miss Catharine Sedgwick also received most favorable
criticism, and in point of style were certainly better than Miss
Leslie's. Her reputation as a literary woman was more than national, and
"Redwood," one of her best novels, was attributed in France to Fenimore
Cooper, when it appeared anonymously in eighteen hundred and
twenty-four. Miss Sedgwick's novels, however, pass out of nursery
comprehension in the first chapters, although these were full of a
healthy New England atmosphere, with coasting parties and picnics,
Indians and gypsies, nowhere else better described. The same tone
pervades her contributions to the "Juvenile Miscellany," the "Token,"
and the "Youth's Keepsake," together with her best-known children's
books, "Stories for Children," "A Well Spent Hour," and "A Love Token
for Children."
In contrast to Mrs. Sherwood's still popular "Fairchild Family,"
Catharine Sedgwick's stories breathe a sunny, invigorating atmosphere,
abounding in local incidents, and vigorous in delineation of types then
plentiful in New England. "She has fallen," wrote one admirer, most
truthfully, in the "North American Review" of 1827,--"she has fallen
upon the view, from which the treasures of our future literature are to
be wrought. A literature to have real freshness must be moulded by the
influences of the society where it had its origin. Letters thrive, when
they are at home in the soil. Miss Sedgwick's imaginations have such
vigor and bloom because they are not exotics." Another reviewer, aroused
by English criticism of the social life in America, and full of the much
vaunted theory that "all men are equal," rejoiced in the author's
attitude towards the so-called "help" in New England families in
contrast to Miss More's portrayal of the English child's condescension
towards inferiors, which he thought unsuitable to set before the
children in America.
All Miss Sedgwick's stories were the product of her own keen
intelligence and observation, and not written in imitation of Miss More,
Miss Edgeworth, or Mrs. Sherwood, as were the anonymous tales of "Little
Lucy; or, the Pleasant Day," or "Little Helen; a Day in the Life of a
Naughty Girl." They preached, indeed, at length, but the preaching
could be skipped by interested readers, and unlike the work of many
contemporaries, there was always a thread to take up.
Mrs. Lydia H. Sigourney, another favorite contributor to magazines,
collected her "Poetry for Children" into a volume bearing this title, in
eighteen hundred and thirty-four, and published "Tales and Essays" in
the same year. These were followed two years later by "Olive Buds," and
thereafter at intervals she brought out several other books, none of
which have now any interest except as examples of juvenile literature
that had once a decided vogue and could safely be bought for the
Sunday-school library.
The names of Mrs. Anna M. Wells, Mrs. Frances S. Osgood, Mrs. Farrar,
Mrs. Eliza L. Follen, and Mrs. Seba Smith were all well beloved by
children eighty years ago, and their writings, if long since lost sight
of, at least added their quota to the children's publications which were
distinctly American.
If the quantity of books sold is any indication of the popularity of an
author's work, nothing produced by any of these ladies is to be compared
with the "Tales of Peter Parley" and the "Rollo Books" of Jacob Abbott.
The tendency to instruct while endeavoring to entertain was remodelled
by these men, who in after years had a host of imitators. Great visions
of good to children had overtaken dreams of making children good, with
the result that William Darton's conversational method of instruction
was compounded with Miss Edgeworth's educational theories and elaborated
after the manner of Hannah More. Samuel Goodrich, at least, confessed
that his many tales were the direct result of a conversation with Miss
More, whom, because of his admiration for her books, he made an effort
to meet when in England in eighteen hundred and twenty-three. While
talking with the old lady about her "Shepherd of Salisbury Plain," the
idea came to Mr. Goodrich that he, himself, might write for American
children and make good use of her method of introducing much detail in
description. As a child he had not found the few toy-books within his
reach either amusing or interesting, with the exception of this
Englishwoman's writings. He resolved that the growing generation should
be better served, but little dreamed of the unprecedented success, as
far as popularity was concerned, that the result of his determination
would prove.
After his return to America, the immediate favorable reception of the
"Token," under Goodrich's direction, led to the publication in the same
year (1828) of "Peter Parley's Tales about America," followed by "Tales
about Europe." At this date of retrospection the first volume seems in
many ways the best of any of the numerous books by the same author. The
boy hero, taken as a child companion upon a journey through several
states, met with adventures among Indians upon the frontiers, and saw
places of historical significance. Every incident is told in imitation
of Miss More, with that detailed description which Goodrich had found so
fascinating. If a little overdone in this respect, the narrative has
certainly a freshness sadly deficient in many later volumes. Even the
second tale seems to lack the engaging spontaneity of the first, and
already to grow didactic and recitative rather than personal. But both
met with an equally generous and appreciative reception. Parley's
educational tales were undoubtedly the American pioneers in what may be
readily styled the "travelogue" manner used in later years by Elbridge
Brooks and many other writers for little people. These early attempts of
Parley's to educate the young reader were followed by one hundred
others, which sold like hot cakes. Of some tales the sales reached a
total of fifty thousand in one year, while it is estimated that seven
million of Peter Parley's "Histories" and "Tales" were sold before the
admiration of their style and qualities waned.
Peter Parley took his heroes far afield. Jacob Abbott adopted another
plan of instruction in the majority of his books. Beginning in eighteen
hundred and thirty-four with the "Young Christian Series," the Reverend
Mr. Abbott soon had readers in England, Scotland, Germany, France,
Holland, and India, where many of his volumes were translated and
republished. In the "Rollo Books" and "Franconia" an attempt was made to
answer many of the questions that children of each century pour out to
astonish and confound their elders. The child reader saw nothing
incongruous in the remarkable wisdom and maturity of Mary Bell and
Beechnut, who could give advice and information with equal glibness. The
advice, moreover, was often worth following, and the knowledge
occasionally worth having; and the little one swallowed chunks of morals
and morsels of learning without realizing that he was doing so. Most of
both was speedily forgotten, but many adults in after years were
unconsciously indebted to Goodrich and Abbott for some familiarity with
foreign countries, some interest in natural science.
Notwithstanding the immense demand for American stories, there was
fortunately still some doubt as to whether this remodelled form of
instructive amusement and moral story-book literature did not lack
certain wholesome features characteristic of the days when fairies and
folklore, and Newbery's gilt volumes, had plenty of room on the nursery
table. "I cannot very well tell," wrote the editor of the "Fairy
Book"[216-A] in 1836,--"I cannot very well tell why it is that the good
old histories and tales, which used to be given to young people for
their amusement and instruction, as soon as they could read, have of
late years gone quite out of fashion in this country. In former days
there was a worthy English bookseller, one Mr. Newbery, who used to
print thousands of nice little volumes of such stories, which, as he
solemnly declared in print in the books themselves, he gave away to all
little boys and girls, charging them only a sixpenny for the gold
covers. These of course no one could be so unreasonable as to wish him
to furnish at his own expense.... Yet in the last generation, American
boys and girls (the fathers and mothers, grandfathers and grandmothers
of the present generation) were not wholly dependent upon Mr. Newbery of
St. Paul's church-yard, though they knew him well and loved him much.
The great Benjamin Franklin, when a printer in Philadelphia, did not
disdain to print divers of Newbery's books adorned with cuts in the
likeness of his, though it must be confessed somewhat inferior.[216-B]
Yet rude as they were, they were probably the first things in the way of
pictures that West and Copley ever beheld, and so instilled into those
future painters, the rudiments of that art by which they afterwards
became so eminent themselves, and conferred such honour upon their
native country. In somewhat later time there were the worthy Hugh Gaine,
at the Sign of the Bible and Crown in Pearl street, and the patriotic
Samuel Loudon, and the genuine and unadulterated New Yorker, Evert
Duyckinck, besides others in Boston and Philadelphia, who trod in the
steps of Newbery, and supplied the infant mind with its first and
sweetest literary food. The munificent Newbery, and the pious and loyal
Hugh Gaine, and the patriotic Samuel Loudon are departed. Banks now
abound and brokers swarm where Loudon erst printed, and many millions
worth of silk and woolen goods are every year sold where Gaine vended
his big Bibles and his little story-books. They are all gone; the
glittering covers and their more brilliant contents, the tales of wonder
and enchantment, the father's best reward for merit, the good
grandmother's most prized presents. They are gone--the cheap delight of
childhood, the unbought grace of boyhood, the dearest, freshest, and
most unfading recollections of maturer life. They are gone--and in their
stead has succeeded a swarm of geological catechisms, entomological
primers, and tales of political economy--dismal trash, all of them;
something half-way between stupid story-books and bad school-books;
being so ingeniously written as to be unfit for any useful purpose in
school and too dull for any entertainment out of it."
This is practically Charles Lamb's lament of some thirty years before.
Lamb had despised the learned Charles, Mrs. Barbauld's peg upon which
to hang instruction, and now an American Shakespeare lover found the use
of toy-books as mechanical guides to knowledge for nursery inmates
equally deplorable.
Yet an age so in love with the acquirement of solid facts as to produce
a Parley and an Abbott was the period when the most famous of all
nursery books was brought out from the dark corner into which it had
been swept by the theories of two generations, and presented once again
as "The Only True Mother Goose Melodies."
The origin of Mother Goose as the protecting genius of the various
familiar jingles has been an interesting field of speculation and
research. The claim for Boston as the birthplace of their sponsor has
long ago been proved a poor one, and now seems likely to have been an
ingenious form of advertisement. But Boston undoubtedly did once again
make popular, at least in America, the lullabies and rhymes repeated for
centuries around French or English firesides.
The history of Mother Goose and her brood is a long one. "Mother Goose,"
writes Mr. Walter T. Field, "began her existence as the raconteuse of
fairy tales, not as the nursery poetess. As La Mère Oye she told stories
to French children more than two hundred and fifty years ago." According
to the researches made by Mr. Field in the literature of Mother Goose,
"the earliest date at which Mother Goose appears as the author of
children's stories is 1667, when Charles Perrault, a distinguished
French littérateur, published in Paris a little book of tales which he
had during that and the preceding year contributed to a magazine known
as 'Moejen's Recueil,' printed at The Hague. This book is entitled
'Histoires ou Contes du Tems Passé, avec des Moralitez,' and has a
frontispiece in which an old woman is pictured, telling stories to a
family group by the fireside while in the background are the words in
large characters, 'Contes de ma Mère l'Oye.'"
It seems, however, to have been John Newbery's publishing-house that
made Mother Goose sponsor for the ditties in much the form in which we
now have them. In Newbery's collection of "Melodies" there were numerous
footnotes burlesquing Dr. Johnson and his dictionary, together with
jests upon the moralizing habit prevalent among authors. There is
evidence that Goldsmith wrote many of these notes when doing hack-work
for the famous publisher in St. Paul's Churchyard. It is known, for
instance, that in January, 1760, Goldsmith celebrated the production of
his "Good Natur'd Man" by dining his friends at an inn. During the feast
he sang his favorite song, said to be
"There was an old woman tos't up in a blanket,
Seventy times as high as the moon."
This was introduced quite irrelevantly in the preface to "Mother Goose's
Melodies," but with the apology that it was a favorite with the editor.
There is also the often quoted remark of Miss Hawkins as confirming
Goldsmith's editorship: "I little thought what I should have to boast,
when Goldsmith taught me to play Jack and Jill, by two bits of paper on
his fingers." But neither of these statements seems to have more weight
in solving the mystery of the editor's name than the evidence of the
whimsically satirical notes themselves. How like the author of the
"Vicar of Wakefield" and the children's "Fables in Verse" is this
remark underneath:
"'There was an old Woman who liv'd under a hill,
And if she's not gone, she lives there still.'
"This is a self evident Proposition, which is the very essence of
Truth. She lived under the hill, and if she's not gone, she lives
there still. Nobody will presume to contradict this. _Croesa._"
And is not this also a good-natured imitation of that kind of seriously
intended information which Mr. Edgeworth inserted some thirty years
later in "Harry and Lucy:" "Dry, what is not wet"? Again this note is
appended to
"See Saw Margery Daw
Jacky shall have a new master:"
"It is a mean and scandalous Practise in Authors to put Notes to Things
that deserve no Notice." Who except Goldsmith was capable of this vein
of humor?
When Munroe and Francis in Boston undertook about eighteen hundred and
twenty-four to republish these old-fashioned rhymes, in the practice of
the current theory that everything must be simplified, they omitted all
these notes and changed many of the "Melodies." Sir Walter Scott's
"Donnel Dhu" was included, and the beautiful Shakespeare selections,
"When Daffodils begin to 'pear," "When the Bee sucks," etc., were
omitted. Doubtless the American editors thought that they had vastly
improved upon the Newbery publication in every word changed and every
line omitted. In reality, they deprived the nursery of much that might
well have remained as it was, although certain expressions were very
properly altered. In a negative manner they did one surprising and
fortunate thing: in leaving out the amusing notes they did not attempt
to replace them, and consequently the nursery had one book free from
that advice and precept, which in other verse for children resulted in
persistent nagging. The illustrations were entirely redrawn, and Abel
Bowen and Nathaniel Dearborn were asked to do the engraving for this
Americanized edition.
Of the poetry written in America for children before eighteen hundred
and forty there is little that need be said. Much of it was entirely
religious in character and most of it was colorless and dreary stuff.
The "Child's Gem" of eighteen hundred and thirty-eight, considered a
treasury of precious verse by one reviewer, and issued in embossed
morocco binding, was characteristic of many contemporary _poems_, in
which nature was forced to exude precepts of virtue and industry. The
following stanzas are no exception to the general tone of the contents
of practically every book entitled "Poetry for Children:"
"'Be good, little Edmund,' your mother will say,
She will whisper it soft in your ear,
And often repeat it, by night and by day
That you may not forget it, my dear.
"And the ant at its work, and the flower-loving bee
And the sweet little bird in the wood
As it warbles its song, from its nest in the tree,
Seems to say, 'little Eddy be good.'"
The change in the character of the children's books written by Americans
had begun to be seriously noticed in England. Although there were still
many importations (such as the series written by Mrs. Sherwood), there
was some inclination to resent the stocking of American booksellers'
shelves by the work of local talent, much to the detriment of English
publishers' pockets. The literary critics took up the subject, and
thought themselves justified in disparaging many of the American books
which found also ready sale on English book-counters. The religious
books underwent scathing criticism, possibly not undeserved, except that
the English productions of the same order and time make it now appear
that it was but the pot calling the kettle black. Almost as much fault
was found with the story-books. It apparently mattered little that the
tables were now turned and British publishers were pirating American
tales as freely and successfully as Thomas and Philadelphia printers had
in former years made use of Newbery's, and Darton and Harvey's, juvenile
novelties in book ware.
In the "Quarterly Review" of 1843, in an article entitled "Books for
Children," the writer found much cause for complaint in regard to
stories then all too conspicuous in bookshops in England. "The same
egregious mistakes," said the critic, "as to the nature of a child's
understanding--the same explanations, which are all but indelicate, and
always profane--seem to pervade all these American mentors; and of a
number by Peter Parley, Abbott, Todd, &c., it matters little which we
take up." "Under the name of Peter Parley," continued the disgruntled
gentleman, after finding only malicious evil in poor Mr. Todd's efforts
to explain religious doctrines, "such a number of juvenile school-books
are current--some greatly altered from the originals and many more by
_adopters_ of _Mr. Goodrich's_ pseudonym--that it becomes difficult to
measure the merits or demerits of the said _magnus parens_, Goodrich."
Liberal quotations followed from "Peter Parley's Farewell," which was
censured as palling to the mind of those familiar with the English
sources from which the facts had been irreverently culled.
The reviewer then passed on to another section of "American
abominations" which "seem to have some claim to popularity since they
are easily sold." "These," continued the anonymous critic, "are works
not of amusement--those we shall touch upon later--but of that
half-and-half description where instruction blows with a side wind....
Accordingly after impatient investigation of an immense number of little
tomes, we are come to the conclusion that they may be briefly
classified--firstly, as containing such information as any child in
average life who can speak plainly is likely to be possessed of; and
secondly, such as when acquired is not worth having."
To this second class of book the Reverend Mr. Abbott's "Rollo Books"
were unhesitatingly consigned. They were regarded as curiosities for
"mere occupation of the eye, and utter stagnation of the thoughts, full
of empty minutiae with all the rules of common sense set aside."
Next the writer considered the style of those Americans who persuaded
shillings from English pockets by "ingeniously contrived series which
rendered the purchase of a single volume by no means so recommendable as
that of all." The "uncouth phraseology, crack-jack words, and puritan
derived words are nationalized and therefore do not permit cavilling,"
continued the reviewer, dismayed and disgusted that it was necessary to
warn his public, "but their children never did, or perhaps never will,
hear any other language; and it is to be hoped they _understand_ it. At
all events, we have nothing to do but keep ours from it, believing
firmly that early familiarity with refined and beautiful forms ... is
one of the greatest safeguards against evil, if not necessary to good."
However, the critic did not close his article without a good word for
those ladies in whose books we ourselves have found merit. "Their works
of amusement" he considered admirable, "when not laden with more
religion than the tale can hold in solution. Miss Sedgwick takes a high
place for powers of description and traits of nature, though her
language is so studded with Americanisms as much to mar the pleasure and
perplex the mind of an English reader. Besides this lady, Mrs. Sigourney
and Mrs. Seba Smith may be mentioned. The former, especially, to all
other gifts adds a refinement, and nationality of subject, with a
knowledge of life, which some of her poetical pieces led us to expect.
Indeed the little Americans have little occasion to go begging to the
history or tradition of other nations for topics of interest."
The "Westminster Review" of eighteen hundred and forty was also in doubt
"whether all this Americanism [such as Parley's 'Tales' contained] is
desirable for English children, were it," writes the critic, "only for
them we keep the 'pure well of English undefiled,' and cannot at all
admire the improvements which it pleases that go-ahead nation to claim
the right of making in our common tongue: unwisely enough as regards
themselves, we think, for one of the elements in the power of a nation
is the wide spread of its language."
This same criticism was made again and again about the style of American
writers for adults, so that it is little wonder the children's books
received no unqualified praise. But Americanisms were not the worst
feature of the "inundation of American children's books," which because
of their novelty threatened to swamp the "higher class" English. They
were feared because of the "multitude of false notions likely to be
derived from them, the more so as the similarity of name and language
prevents children from being on their guard, and from remembering that
the representations that they read are by foreigners." It was the
American view of English institutions (presented in story-book form)
which rankled in the British breast as a "condescending tenderness of
the free nation towards the monarchical régime" from which at any cost
the English child must be guarded. In this respect Peter Parley was the
worst offender, and was regarded as "a sad purveyor of slip-slop, and no
matter how amusing, ignorant of his subject." That gentleman, meanwhile,
read the criticisms and went on making "bread and butter," while he
scowled at the English across the water, who criticised, but pirated as
fast as he published in America.
Gentle Miss Eliza Leslie received altogether different treatment in this
review of American juvenile literature. She was considered "good
everywhere, and particularly so for the meridian in which her tales were
placed;" and we quite agree with the reviewer who considered it well
worth while to quote long paragraphs from her "Tell Tale" to show its
character and "truly useful lesson." "To America," continued this
writer, "we also owe a host of little books, that bring together the
literature of childhood and the people; as 'Home,' 'Live and Let Live'
[by Miss Sedgwick], &c., but excellent in intention as they are, we have
our doubts, as to the general reception they will meet in this country
while so much of more exciting and elegant food is at hand." Even if the
food of amusement in England appeared to the British mind more spiced
and more _elegant_, neither Miss Leslie's nor Miss Sedgwick's fictitious
children were ever anaemic puppets without wills of their own,--a type
made familiar by Miss Edgeworth and persisted in by her admirers and
successors,--but vitalized little creatures, who acted to some degree,
at least, like the average child who loved their histories and named her
dolls after favorite characters.
To-day these English criticisms are only of value as showing that the
American story-book was no longer imitating the English tale, but was
developing, by reason of the impress of differing social forces, a new
type. Its faults do not prevent us from seeing that the spirit expressed
in this juvenile literature is that of a new nation feeling its own way,
and making known its purpose in its own manner. While we smile at
sedulous endeavors of the serious-minded writers to present their
convictions, educational, religious, or moral, in palatable form, and to
consider children always as a race apart, whose natural actions were
invariably sinful, we still read between the lines that these writers
were really interested in the welfare of the American child; and that
they were working according to the accepted theories of the third decade
of the nineteenth century as to the constituents of a juvenile
library which, while "judicious and attractive, should also blend
instruction with innocent amusement."
[Illustration: _The Little Runaway_]
And now as we have reached the point in the history of the American
story-book when it is popular at least in both English-speaking
countries, if not altogether satisfactory to either, what can be said of
the value of this juvenile literature of amusement which has developed
on the tiny pages of well-worn volumes? If, of all the books written for
children by Americans seventy-five years and more ago, only Nathaniel
Hawthorne's "Wonder Book" has survived to the present generation; of all
the verse produced, only the simple rhyme, "Mary had a Little Lamb," and
Clement Moore's "The Night before Christmas" are still quoted, has their
history any value to-day?
If we consider that there is nothing more rare in the fiction of any
nation than the popular child's story that endures; nothing more unusual
than the successful well-written juvenile tale, we can perhaps find a
value not to be reckoned by the survival or literary character of these
old-fashioned books, but in their silent testimony to the influence of
the progress of social forces at work even upon so small a thing as a
child's toy-book. The successful well-written child's book has been
rare, because it has been too often the object rather than the manner of
writing that has been considered of importance; because it has been the
aim of all writers either to "improve in goodness" the young reader, as
when, two hundred years ago, Cotton Mather penned "Good Lessons" for his
infant son to learn at school, or, to quote the editor of "Affection's
Gift" (published a century and a quarter later), it has been for the
purpose of "imparting moral precepts and elevated sentiments, of uniting
instruction and amusement, through the fascinating mediums of
interesting narrative and harmony of numbers."
The result of both intentions has been a collection of dingy or faded
duodecimos containing a series of impressions of what each generation
thought good, religiously, morally, and educationally, for little folk.
If few of them shed any light upon child nature in those long-ago days,
many throw shafts of illumination upon the change and progress in
American ideals and thought concerning the welfare of children. As has
already been said, the press supplied what the public taste demanded,
and if the writers produced for earlier generations of children what may
now be considered lumber, the press of more modern date has not
progressed so far in this field of literature as to make it in any
degree certain that our children's treasures may not be consigned to an
equal oblivion. For these too are but composites made by superimposing
the latest fads or theories as to instructive amusement of children upon
those of previous generations of toy-books. Most of what was once
considered the "perfume of youth and freshness" in a literary way has
been discarded as dry and unprofitable, mistaken or deceptive; and yet,
after all has been said by way of criticism of methods and subjects,
these chap-books, magazines, gift and story books form our best if
blurred pictures of the amusements and daily life of the old-time
American child.
We are learning also to prize these small "Histories" as part of the
progress of the arts of book-making and illustration, and of the growth
of the business of publishing in America; and already we are aware of
the fulfilment of what was called by one old bookseller, "Tom Thumb's
Maxim in Trade and Politics:" "He who buys this book for Two-pence, and
lays it up till it is worth Three-pence, may get an hundred per cent by
the bargain."
FOOTNOTES:
[204-A] _Election Day_, p. 71. American Sunday School Union, 1828.
[216-A] Mr. G.C. Verplanck was probably the editor of this book,
published by Harper & Bros.
[216-B] This statement the writer has been unable to verify.
_Index_
INDEX
ABBOTT, Jacob, 201, 208, 213, 215, 218, 222, 223.
Abbott, John S.C., 129.
A, B, C Book, 101.
A, B, C of religion, 22.
Absence from Christ intolerable, 39.
Adams, John, 165.
Adams, Mrs. John, 91.
Adams, J.A., 169.
Adams, John Quincy, 196.
Addison, Joseph, 159.
Adventures of a Peg-top, 109.
Adventures of a Pincushion, 109, 111, 112.
Adventures of Lot, 206.
Aesop, 63, 66, 67, 69, 90, 101, 109.
Affectionate Daughter-in-Law, 206.
Affection's Gift, 227.
Aikin, Dr. John, 139, 140, 163.
Ainsworth, Robert, 63.
Aitkin, Robert, 100, 101.
Alarm to Unconverted Sinners, An, 206.
Althea Vernon, 210.
American Antiquarian Society, 103.
American Flag, 148.
American Girls' Book, 209.
American Juvenile Keepsake, 197, 200.
American Sunday School Union, 201, 202, 204.
American Weekly Mercury, 20.
Ami des Enfans, 134, 135.
Amyntor, 192.
Anderson, Dr. Alexander, 166-169, 180.
André, Major John, 97.
Andrews, Joseph, 196.
Andrews, Thomas, 102.
Anecdoten von Hunden, 178.
Anecdotes of Christian Missions, 206.
Animated Nature, 108.
Annales of Madame de Genlis, 134.
Annual Register, 163.
Anthony and Clara, 210.
Arabian Nights, 162.
Argalus & Parthenia, 90.
Arnold, Benedict, 97, 98.
Arthur's Geographical Grammar, 99.
Art's Treasury, 90.
Ashe, Thomas T., 207.
Ashton, John, 54.
Atlantic Stories, 210.
Avery, S., 180.
BABCOCK, Sidney, 167, 168.
Bache, Benjamin, 100, 101, 104, 105, 127.
Bag of Nuts ready Cracked, 107.
Bailey, Francis, 123.
Banbury Chap-Books, 53, 70, 117.
Barbauld, Anna Letitia, 127-129, 132, 140-142, 152, 155, 163, 188, 218.
Barclay, Andrew, 102, 103.
Baskerville, John, 103.
Battelle, E., 102.
Battle of the Kegs, 97.
Be Merry and Wise, 67, 106.
Beecher, Rev. Dr. Lyman, 162.
Belcher, J., 170, 171.
Bell, Robert, 75, 76, 89, 100, 101.
Benezet, Anthony, 101.
Berquin, Arnaud, 134, 159, 161.
Bewick, Thomas, 117, 118, 135, 166, 168, 169.
Bewick's Quadrupeds, 168.
Bibliography of Worcester, 102.
Big and Little Puzzling Caps, 107.
Biography for Boys, 115.
Biography for Girls, 114, 115.
Birthday Stories, 210.
Blossoms of Morality, 165.
Blue Beard, The History of, 141, 165.
Body of Divinity versified, 22.
Book for Boys and Girls; or, Country Rhimes for Children, 11.
Book for Boys and Girls; or, Temporal Things Spiritualized, 13.
Book of Knowledge, 90, 103.
Book of Martyrs, 10.
Books for Children, 222.
Bookseller of the last century, The, 51, 54.
Boone, Daniel, 198.
Boone, Nicholas, 17.
Boston Chronicle, 74, 75.
Boston Evening Post, 38, 43, 73.
Boston Gazette and Country Journal, 80.
Boston News Letter, 19.
Boston Public Library, 74.
Bowen, Abel, 169, 221.
Boy and his Paper of Plumbs, 12.
Boy and the Watchmaker, 12.
Boy's Own Book, 209.
Boyle, John, 76, 77.
Bradford, Andrew, 20, 21, 126.
Bradford, Thomas, 59, 90, 100.
Brewer, printer, 167.
Brooke, Henry, 130.
Brooks, Elbridge, 215.
Brother's Gift, 80, 111, 112.
Browne, Miss, 197.
Brynberg, Peter, 165.
Buccaneers of America, 90.
Bunyan, John, 10-13.
Burr, Aaron, 132-134.
Burr, Theodosia, 132, 133.
Burton, R., 36, 37.
Burton's Historical Collections, 36.
Busy Bee, 187.
Butcher, Elizabeth, 21, 40, 186.
Butterworth, Hezekiah, 132.
CADET'S Sister, 210.
Cameron, Lucy Lyttleton, 152, 184.
Canary Bird, The, 172.
Carey, Matthew, 165, 206.
Carey, Robert, 72.
Carnan, Mr., 46, 104.
Carter, John, 101.
Catechism, 5, 6, 10, 15.
Catechism of New England, 7.
Cautionary Stories in Verse, 175.
Century Magazine, 208.
Chandler, Samuel, 163.
Chap-Books of the Eighteenth Century, 54.
Chapone, Hester, 113, 114, 159.
Chapters of Accidents, 174.
Charles, Mary, 170.
Charles, William, 170, 171, 176, 183.
Cheap Repository, 152.
Cherry Orchard, The, 156, 177.
Child, Lydia Maria, 193, 201.
Child and his Book, 11, 45.
Children in the Wood, 8.
Children's Books and Reading, 132.
Children's Friend, 135, 161.
Children's Magazine, The, 101.
Children's Miscellany, 129, 131.
Child's Garden of Verses, Stevenson's, 182.
Child's Gem, 221.
Child's Guide to Spelling and Reading, 165.
Child's Instructor, 122, 123.
Child's New Play-thing, 41, 43-45.
Choice Spirits, 90.
Christmas Box, 64, 106.
Cinderella, 62, 171.
Clarissa Harlowe, 50, 79-85, 109.
Clarke, Edward, 41.
Cock Robin, 166.
Collection of Pretty Poems, 67.
Collins, Benjamin, 47.
Complete Letter-Writer, 90.
Congress, The, 98.
Conrad and Parsons, 206, 207.
Contes de ma Mère l'Oye, 219.
Cooper, James Fenimore, 148, 191, 203, 211.
Cooper, Rev. Mr., 134.
Copley, John Stuart, 217.
Cotton, John, 6, 9, 30.
Cottons and Barnard, 206.
Country Rhimes for Children, 11, 13.
Coverly, Nathaniel, 166.
Cowper, William, 153, 175.
Cox and Berry, 80.
Cries of London, 80, 180.
Cries of New York, 180-182.
Cries of Philadelphia, 180.
Cross, Wilbur L., 80.
Crouch, Nathaniel, 36.
Cruel Giant Barbarico, 74.
Crukshank, Joseph, 100, 101, 165.
Custis, John Parke, 73.
Custis, Martha Parke, 73.
Cuz's Chorus, 111.
DAISY, The, 176.
Darton, William, 124, 174, 182, 213.
Darton and Harvey, 222.
Day, Mahlon, 169, 206, 207.
Day, Thomas, 129-132, 142, 145, 154, 179, 188.
Daye, John, 7.
Dearborn, Nathaniel, 169, 221.
Death and Burial of Cock Robin, 124.
Death of Abel, 90.
Defoe, Daniel, 129.
Delight in the Lord Jesus, 39.
Description of Various Objects, A, 173.
Development of the English novel, 80.
Dennie, Joseph, 192.
Dilworth, Thomas, 38, 41, 121, 136.
Divine emblems, 13.
Divine Songs, 38.
Doane, Bishop G.W., 196.
Doddridge, Philip, 152, 184.
Dodsley, Robert, 95.
Don Quixote, 161.
Donaldson, Arthur, 192.
Donnel Dhu, 220.
Doolittle, Amos, 169.
Dove, The, 134.
Drake, Joseph Rodman, 148.
Draper, Samuel, 69.
Draper and Edwards, 44.
Drinker, Eliza, 91, 126.
Dryden's Poems, 163.
Dunlap, John, 100.
Dunton, John, 8, 36.
Durell, publisher, 166, 167.
Duyckinck, Evert, 217.
EARLY Lessons, 155.
Earnest Exhortation, 22.
Easy Introduction into the knowledge of Nature, 128.
Easy Lessons for Children, 127, 128, 132, 155.
Economy of Human Life, 152.
Edgeworth, Maria, 128, 140, 150, 153-159, 164, 171, 175-177, 187, 188,
207, 212, 213, 226.
Edgeworth, Richard Lovell, 154-156, 220.
Edwards, Joseph, 43.
Elegant Extracts, 162.
Embury, Emma C., 200, 201.
Emulation, 187.
English Empire in America, 36.
Entertaining Fables, 109.
Errand Boy, 187.
Evenings at Home, 128, 139, 163, 164.
Everett, Alexander H., 196.
Everett, Edward, 196.
FABLES in verse, 53, 220.
Fabulous Histories, 128, 141.
Fair Rosamond, 24.
Fairchild Family, The, 152, 186, 212.
Fairy Book, 216.
Familiar Description of Beasts and Birds, 174.
Farrar, Eliza Ware, 213.
Father's Gift, The, 111.
Female Orators, 82.
Fenelon's Reflections, 184.
Field, E.M., 11, 45.
Field, Walter T., 218.
Fielding, Henry, 51, 78, 80, 81, 137.
Fields, James T., 196.
First Book of the American Chronicles of the Times, 76.
Fleet, Thomas, 19, 20, 24, 38.
Fleming, John, 74.
Flora's Gala, 175.
Follen, Eliza L., 213.
Food for the Mind, 67, 68, 107.
Fool of Quality, 130.
Ford, Paul Leicester, 14.
Fowle, Zechariah, 20, 40, 69, 103.
Fowle and Draper, 72.
Fox and Geese, 209.
Foxe, John, 10.
Franconia, 215.
Frank, 155.
Franklin, Benjamin, 21-24, 26, 36, 38, 59-62, 103, 105, 123, 179, 193, 216.
Franklin, Sally, 62, 63.
Franklin and Hall, 59.
French Convert, 90.
Friendly Instruction, 184.
GAFFER Two Shoes, 82.
Gaine, Hugh, 64, 65, 67, 68, 89, 167, 217.
Gallaudet, Elisha, 196.
Garden Amusements, 175.
Generous Inconstant, The, 82.
Genlis, Madame Stéphanie-Félicité de, 132, 134.
Geographical, Statistical and Political Amusement, 178.
George's Junior Republic, 139.
Gilbert, C., 169.
Giles Gingerbread, 74, 110, 140, 159.
Gilman, Caroline, 194, 195.
Going to Jerusalem, 209.
Goldsmith, Oliver, 51, 52, 80, 82, 95, 108, 159, 219, 220.
Good Lessons for Children, 18, 127, 227.
Good Natur'd Man, 219.
Goodrich, Samuel G., 129, 194-196, 198, 199, 201, 208, 213-215, 218,
222-225.
Goody Two-Shoes, 52, 53, 55, 89, 101, 110, 116-118, 123, 140-142, 159.
Greeley, Horace, 196.
Green, Samuel, 10, 13, 14.
Green, Timothy, 17.
Gulliver's Adventures, 125.
Guy of Warwick, 8.
HAIL Columbia, 148, 211.
Hale, Richard W., 208.
Hale, Sarah J., 193, 208, 209.
Hall, Anna Maria, 197, 199.
Hall, David, 59, 62, 100.
Hall, Samuel, 124, 125.
Hall, William, 100.
Halleck, Fitz-Greene, 148.
Hannah Swanton, the Casco Captive, 206.
Happy Child, 40.
Harper and Brothers, 206, 216.
Harris, Benjamin, 14.
Harris, John, 182, 183.
Harry and Lucy, 155, 156, 164, 220.
Harvey, John, 182.
Hawkins, Laetitia Matilda, 219.
Hawthorne, Julian, 78, 129, 130.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 149, 196, 227.
Hebrides, 153.
Henrietta Harrison, 211.
Hildeburn, Charles R., 65, 93.
Hill, George Birbeck, 141.
Hill, Hannah, 21, 186.
Histoires ou Contes du Tems Passé, 219.
Historical Society of Pennsylvania, 69.
History of a Doll, 136.
History of printing in America, 18, 19.
History of the American Revolution, 123.
History of the Holy Jesus, 39, 40, 103.
History of the Institution of Cyrus, 130.
History of the Robins, 129.
Hive, The, 195.
Hobby Horse, The, 42, 80.
Hofland, Barbara, 197, 198.
Holmes, Dr. Oliver Wendell, 162-164, 184, 196, 201.
Holy Bible in Verse, 15.
Home, 226.
Home of Washington, 28.
Hopkinson, Joseph, 148.
Hot Buttered Beans, 209.
House that Jack Built, 19.
Howard, Mr., 29.
Hudibras, 161.
Hunt the Thimble, 209.
Hymns for Infant Minds, 184.
Hymns in Prose and Verse, 128.
"IANTHE." _See_ Embury.
Illman, Thomas, 196.
Infidel Class, 206.
Irving, Washington, 148, 191.
JACK and Jill, 219.
Jack the Giant Killer, 8, 141.
Jacky Dandy's Delight, 107, 108.
James, William, 175, 176.
Jane Grey, 24.
Janeway, James, 17, 186.
Jenny Twitchell's Jests, 90.
Joe Miller's Jests, 90.
Johnson, Benjamin, 164, 178, 183, 192.
Johnson, Jacob, 152, 155, 156, 159, 164, 173, 178, 183.
Johnson, Dr. Samuel, 36, 50-52, 129, 140, 141, 153, 219.
Johnson and Warner, 164, 178, 183.
Johnsonian Miscellany, 141.
Jones, Giles, 52, 53.
Joseph Andrews, 78, 81, 90.
Josephus, 167.
Julianna Oakley, 206.
Juvenile Biographers, 115, 116.
Juvenile Magazine, 179, 192.
Juvenile Miscellany, 193-195, 208, 212.
Juvenile Olio, 192.
Juvenile Piety, 206.
Juvenile Portfolio, 192.
Juvenile Rambler, 195.
Juvenile Trials for Robbing Orchards, etc., 139, 140.
KEEPER'S Travels in Search of his Master, 172.
Kellogg, Joseph G., 196.
Kendall, Dr., 172.
Key, Francis Scott, 148.
Kilner, Dorothy, 109.
King Pippin, 55, 110, 159, 163.
Kleine Erzählungen über ein Buch mit Kupfern, 178.
Knox, Thomas W., 132.
LADY Queen Anne, 209.
Lamb, Charles, 141, 142, 217.
Lansing, G., 169.
Lark, The, 90.
Launch of the Frigate, 210.
Lee, Richard Henry, 28, 29.
Legacy to Children, 126.
Lenox Collection, 180.
Leo, the Great Giant, 74.
Leslie, Eliza, 193, 196, 201, 208-211, 225, 226.
Letters from the Dead to the Living, 162.
Letters to Little Children, 206.
Liddon, Mr., 100.
Life of David, 163.
Lilly, Wait and Company, 194, 206.
Lincoln and Edmunds, 184, 206.
Linnet, The, 90.
Linton, William James, 166, 168, 169.
Literary Magazine, 52.
Literature of the American Revolution, 98.
Little Book for Children, 17.
Little Boy found under a Haycock, 123.
Little Deceiver Reclaimed, 206.
Little Dog Trusty, 156.
Little Fanny, 176.
Little Helen, 212.
Little Henry, 170.
Little Henry and his Bearer, 184, 185.
Little Jack, 131.
Little Lottery Book, 106.
Little Lucy, 212.
Little Millenium Boy, 186.
Little Nancy, 171, 176-178.
Little Pretty Pocket-Book, A, 47-50, 67.
Little Readers' Assistant, 121, 122.
Little Robin Red Breast, 114.
Little Scholar's Pretty Pocket Companion, 122.
Little Sophie, 176.
Little Truths, 124, 125, 182.
Little William, 171.
Live and Let Live, 226.
Lives of Highwaymen, 90.
Lives of Pirates, 90.
Locke, John, 41-43, 46, 51, 66, 99.
London Chronicle, 53.
Longfellow, Henry W., 196.
Longworth, David, 165, 168.
Looking-glass, A, 22.
Looking Glass for the Mind, 134, 135, 159, 162, 166.
Lossing, Benson J., 28, 29, 167.
Loudon, Samuel, 217.
Love Token for Children, 212.
MACAULAY, T.B., 153.
Magnalia, 162.
Mary had a Little Lamb, 208, 209, 227.
Mason, A.J., 169.
Massachusetts Sunday School Union, 194.
Master Jacky and Miss Harriot, 135.
Mather, Cotton, 6, 7, 9, 16-18, 21, 22, 56, 127, 185, 186, 227.
Mather, Elizabeth, 16.
Mather, Increase, 16-18.
Mather, Samuel, 16.
Mein, John, 73-75, 77, 89.
Metamorphosis, A, 169.
Milk for Babes, 6, 7, 30.
Milton, John, 159, 175.
Mr. Telltruth's Natural History of Birds, 107.
Mitford, Mary Russell, 197.
Moejen's Recueil, 218.
Moll Flanders, 90.
Moore, Clement Clarke, 147-149, 227.
Moral Tale, 187.
Moral Tales, 159.
More, Hannah, 134, 150-153, 159, 188, 212-214.
Morgan, engraver, 169.
Morgan and Sons, 170, 207.
Morgan and Yeager, 170.
Morton, Eliza, 95.
Moses, Montrose J., 132.
Mother Goose Melodies, 19, 20, 53, 114, 218-220.
Mother's Gift, 82, 111, 113, 118.
Mother's Remarks over a Set of Cuts, A, 178.
Munroe and Francis, 20, 168, 206, 220.
Murray, James, 91.
Museum, The, 60, 61.
My Father, 176.
My Governess, 176, 182.
My Mother, 176.
My Pony, 176.
My Sister, 182.
NATURAL History of Four Footed Beasts, 107.
Neagle, John, 169.
New England Courant, 21, 22.
New England Primer, 6, 7, 13-15, 28, 33, 93, 121.
New French Primer, 60.
New Gift for Children with Cuts, 40, 69-72, 103.
New Guide to the English Tongue, 38.
New Picture of the City, 100.
New Year's Gift, 64.
New York Mercury, 67.
New York Weekly, 207.
Newbery, Carnan, 54.
Newbery, Edward, 54.
Newbery, Francis, 46, 51, 54, 82.
Newbery, John, 28, 37, 40, 46-56, 60-62, 64, 67, 70, 74, 77, 82, 89, 90,
97, 101, 104, 108, 118, 123, 124, 141, 142, 154, 159, 182, 187, 198,
216, 217, 219, 220, 222.
Newbery, Ralph, 46.
Nichols, Dr. Charles L., 102, 103.
Night before Christmas, The, 147, 148, 227.
Noel, Garrat, 68, 148.
North American Review, 212.
Nutter, Valentine, 89.
OLD Mother Hubbard, 166.
Olive Buds, 213.
Orangeman, The, 156.
Original Poems, 182.
Osgood, Frances S., 213.
Oswald, Ebenezer, 100.
PAMELA, 50, 78, 80, 81, 109.
Parable against Persecution, 123.
Paradise Lost, 153.
Parent's Assistant, 155.
Parents' Gift, 38.
Parker, James, 62.
Parley, Peter. _See_ Goodrich, S.G.
Pastoral Hymn, 74.
Patriotic and Amatory Songster, 180.
Peacock at Home, 171.
Pearl, The, 209.
Pearson, Edwin, 53, 117.
Pease, Joseph I., 196.
Pedigree and Rise of the Pretty Doll, 136-139.
Pelton, Oliver, 196.
Pennsylvania Evening Post, 93.
Pennsylvania Gazette, 59, 62.
Pennsylvania Journal, 59.
People of all Nations, 173, 174.
Peregrine Pickle, 51, 109.
Perrault, Charles, 62, 218.
Perry, Michael, 26.
Philadelphiad, The, 100.
Picture Exhibition, The, 106, 109.
Pilgrim's Progress, 10, 36, 95, 126, 163, 167.
Pilkington, Mary, 114.
Pinckney, Eliza, 91.
Play-thing, The, 61.
Pleasures of Piety in Youth, 184.
Plutarch's Lives, 130.
Poems for Children, 208.
Poems for Children Three Feet High, 64.
Poesie out of Mr. Dod's Garden, 38.
Poetical Description of Song Birds, 114.
Poetry for Children, 213, 221.
Popular Tales, 155.
Poupard, James, 169.
Power of Religion, 152.
Practical Education, 128.
Practical Piety, 184.
Present for a Little Girl, 169.
Preservative from the Sins and Follies of Childhood, 40.
Pretty Book for Children, 60, 61, 67.
Principles of the Christian Religion, 184.
Pritchard, Mr., 100.
Private Tutor for little Masters and Misses, 67.
Prize for Youthful Obedience, 172, 173.
Prodigal Daughter, The, 24-26, 40, 188.
Protestant Tutor for Children, 13, 14.
Puritan Primer, 13.
Puzzling Cap, 80, 82.
QUARTERLY Review, 222.
Quincy, Mrs. Josiah, 158, 159.
RAIKES, Robert, 151.
Ralph, W., 169.
Rand, Rev. Asa, 194.
Rebels, The, 98.
Recollections of a New England Housekeeper, 195.
Redwood, 211.
Rees's Encyclopedia, 163.
Reformed Family, 206.
Remembrance of Youth is a Sigh, 200.
Rhymes for the Nursery, 20, 182.
Rice, Mr., 100.
Richardson, Samuel, 50, 78-81, 137.
Rivington, James, 65, 67, 68.
Roberts, Jean, 197.
Robin Red Breast, 90.
Robin's Alive, 209.
Robinson Crusoe, 79, 90, 118, 129, 130, 159.
Roderick Random, 51, 109.
Roger and Berry, 89.
Rollin's Ancient History, 161.
Rollinson, William, 169.
Rollo Books, 213, 215, 223.
Rose, The, 187.
Rose Bud, 195.
Rose's Breakfast, The, 175.
Rowe, Elizabeth, 162.
Royal Battledore, 60, 61.
Royal Primer, 61.
Russell's Seven Sermons, 90.
SABBATH School Times, 194.
Sanford and Merton, 129, 154.
Scotch Rogue, 90.
Scott, Sir Walter, 158, 220.
Scott's (Rev. Thomas) Family Bible, 163.
Search after Happiness, 134, 152.
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, 152, 160, 161, 193, 196, 208, 211, 212, 224,
226.
Seven Wise Masters, 90.
Seven Wise Mistresses, 90.
Sewall, Henry, 9.
Sewall, Samuel, 9, 10.
Shakespeare, William, 159, 161.
Sharps, William, 29.
Sheldon, Lucy, 82.
Shepherd of Salisbury Plain, 152, 214.
Sherwood, Mary Martha, 152, 184, 186, 187, 212, 221.
Sigourney, Lydia H., 193, 208, 213, 224.
Simple Susan, 158.
Sims, Joseph, 27.
Sir Charles Grandison, 79-82.
Sister's Gift, 80, 111-113.
Skyrin, Nancy, 126, 127.
Smart, Christopher, 54.
Smith, Elizabeth Oakes, 213, 224.
Smollett, Tobias, 51, 52, 78, 79.
Song for the Red Coats, 97.
Songs for the Nursery, 19, 20.
Southern Rose, 195.
Souvenir, 210.
Sparrow, The, 172.
Star Spangled Banner, 148.
Stevenson, Robert Louis, 182.
Stir the Mush, 209.
Stone, William L., 200.
Stories and Tales, 90.
Stories for Children, 212.
Stowe, Harriet Beecher, 162.
Strahan, William, 61-63.
TALE, A: The Political Balance, 123.
Tales and Essays, 213.
Taylor, Ann, 176, 182.
Taylor, Jane, 182, 184.
Tell Tale, 225.
Thackerary, W.M., 34.
Thomas, Isaiah, 18-20, 40, 69, 74, 102-104, 106, 109, 116-118, 129, 168,
198, 222.
Thompson, John, 168.
Thoughts on Education, 41, 66, 99.
Three Stories for Children, 156.
Todd, John, D.D., 222.
Token, The, 196, 197, 212, 214.
Token for Children, 17, 186.
Token for the Children of New England, 17, 21, 186.
Token for Youth, 40.
Tom Hick-a-Thrift, 24.
Tom Jones, 51, 78, 80, 109, 110.
Tom the Piper's Son, 170.
Tom Thumb, 8, 19, 24, 62, 74, 77, 102, 106, 114, 166, 167.
Tommy Trapwit, 64.
Tommy Trip, 52, 74, 107, 108.
Track the Rabbit, 209.
Trimmer, Sarah, 128, 129, 141, 142, 159.
Trip's Book of Pictures, 64.
Triumphs of Love, 90.
Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel, 147.
Twelve Caesars, 90.
Twice Told Tales, 196.
Two Lambs, 152.
Two Shoemakers, 152.
Tyler, Moses Coit, 98.
UNTERHALTUNGEN für Deutsche Kinder, 178.
Urax, or the Fair Wanderer, 74.
VALENTINE and Orson, 90.
Verplanck, Gulian C., 196, 216.
Vicar of Wakefield, 52, 219.
Violet, The, 209.
WADDELL, J., 62.
Walks of Usefulness, 184.
Walters and Norman, 93.
Walton's Lives, 153.
Warner and Hanna, 169.
Washington, George, 28, 29, 72, 73, 93, 122, 123, 170, 179.
Waste Not, Want Not, 156-158.
Watts, Isaac, 38, 45, 46.
Way to Wealth, 179.
Webster, Noah, 121, 122, 136.
Weekly Mercury, 23, 26, 27, 64, 65, 68.
Weekly Post-Boy, 62.
Weems's Life of George Washington, 179, 180.
Well Spent Hour, 212.
Wells, Anna M., 193, 213.
Wells, Robert, 102.
Welsh, Charles, 46, 49, 51, 54, 61, 70, 124, 142.
West, Benjamin, 216.
Westminster Review, 224.
Westminster Shorter Catechism, 7.
White, William, D.D., 151.
Whitefield, George, 151.
Widdows, P., 126.
Wilder, Mary, 113.
Willis, Nathaniel P., 194.
Winslow, Anna Green, 81-83, 85.
Winter Evenings' Entertainment, 37, 90.
Wonder Book, 149, 227.
Wonderful Traveller, 209.
Wonders of Nature and Art, 53.
Wood, Samuel, 165, 166, 169, 175.
Wood, Samuel, and Sons, 167, 206.
Wood-engraving in America, 166-169.
Woodhouse, William, 100.
Worcester Magazine, 104.
XENOPHON, 130.
YOUNG, William, 129.
Young Child's A B C, 166.
Young Christian Series, 215.
Young Gentlemen and Ladies' Magazine, 183.
Youth's Companion, 194.
Youth's Divine Pastime, 37.
Youth's Keepsake, 212.
ZENTLER, publisher, 178.
* * * * * *
Transcriber's note:
The following errors and inconsistencies have been maintained.
Misspelled words and typographical errors:
p. ix Edmands for Edmunds
p. 46 Newbury for Newbery
p. 102 Period missing at end of the sentence "to a boy But"
p. 158 Paragraph ends with , "her own generation,"
p. 208 Sentence ends with a comma: "the originator of these
verses,"
p. 243 Thackerary for Thackeray
Inconsistent hyphenation:
folk-lore / folklore
school-fellows / schoolfellows
school-masters / schoolmasters
small-pox / smallpox
wood-cut / woodcut