Wherever you wander in the land of children’s books, ramifications,
with the vein of hidden gold, invite investigation,--rich gold for the
student and for the critic, but less so for the general reader. Yet
upon the general reader a book’s immortality depends. No librarian, no
historian, need be crowded out; there are points still to be settled,
not in the mere dry discussion of dates, but in the estimates of
individual effect. The development of children’s books is consecutive,
carried forward because of social reasons; each name mentioned has a
story of its own. Two publishers at the outset attract our regard;
except for them, much would have been lost to English and American
children.
As early as Elizabeth’s time, Rafe Newberie, Master of Stationer’s
Company, published Hakluyt’s “Voyages.” From him, John Newbery
(1713–1767) was descended. Given an ordinary schooling, he was
apprenticed to the printer, William Carnan, who, dying in 1737, divided
his worldly goods between his brother Charles, and his assistant John.
The latter, in order to cement his claim still further, married his
employer’s widow, by whom he had three children, Francis, his successor
in the publishing business, being born on July 6, 1743.
Newbery was endowed with much common sense. He travelled somewhat
extensively before settling in London, and, during his wanderings, he
jotted down rough notes, relating especially to his future book trade;
the remarks are worthy of a keen critic. During this time it is hard to
keep Newbery, the publisher, quite free from the picturesque career of
Newbery, the druggist; on the one hand Goldsmith might call him “the
philanthropic publisher of St. Paul’s Churchyard,” as he did in the
“Vicar of Wakefield,” which was first printed by Newbery and Benjamin
Collins, of Salisbury; on the other hand, in 1743, one might just as
well have praised him for the efficacy of the pills and powders he
bartered. Now we find him a shopkeeper, catering to the captains of
ships from his warehouse, and adding every new concoction to his stock
of homeopathic deceptions. Even Goldsmith could not refrain from having
a slap at his friend in “Quacks Ridiculed.”
He made money, however, and he associated with a literary set among
whom gold was much coveted and universally scarce. The portly Dr.
Johnson ofttimes borrowed a much-needed guinea, an unfortunate
privilege, for he had a habit of never working so long as he could
feel money in his pocket. This generosity on the part of Newbery
did not deter Johnson from showing his disapproval over many of the
former’s publications. We can well imagine the implied sarcasm in his
declaration that Newbery was an extraordinary man, “for I know not
whether he has read, or written most books.” Between 1744 and 1802,
records indicate that Newbery and his successors printed some three
hundred volumes, two hundred of which were juvenile; small wonder he
needed the editorial assistance of such persons as Dr. Johnson and
Oliver Goldsmith.
One of the first pieces the latter let Newbery have, was an article
for the _Literary Magazine_ of January, 1758. Then there came into
existence _The Universal Chronicle, or Weekly Gazette_ in April, 1758,
for which Johnson wrote “The Idler.” In 1759, _The British Magazine
or Monthly Repository for Gentlemen and Ladies, by T. Smollett, M.D.,
and others_ was announced, Smollett then taking a rest cure in jail.
As though magazines could be launched in a few hours without sinking,
a daily sheet called the _Public Ledger_ was brought into existence
on January 12, 1760, for which Goldsmith wrote his “Chinese Letters.”
Between this date and 1767, Goldsmith resided in a room on the upper
floor of Newbery’s house at Islington, and the publisher’s son declares
that while there Goldsmith read to him odd parts of “The Traveller” and
the “Vicar of Wakefield.” This has not so much evidence to support
it as the fact that bills presented at the front door for Goldsmith,
usually found their way to Newbery for settlement.
How much actual suggestion Goldsmith gave to his publisher-employer,
how far he influenced the character of the books to be printed, cannot
be determined; he and Griffith and Giles Jones assuredly encouraged
the juvenile picture stories. An advertisement of 1765 calls attention
to the following: “The Renowned History of Giles Gingerbread, a little
boy who lived upon learning” [the combination is very appropriate in
its compensating qualities of knowledge and “sweets”]; “The Whitsuntide
Gift, or the Way to be Happy”; “The Valentine Gift, or how to behave
with honour, integrity and humanity”; and “The History of Little Goody
Two Shoes, otherwise called Margery Two Shoes.”
Though he could not wholly escape the charge of catering to the moral
craze of the time, Newbery at least infused into his little books
something of imagination and something of heroic adventure; not
sufficient however to please Dr. Johnson, who once said: “Babies do not
want to hear about babies; they like to be told of giants and castles,
and of somewhat which can stretch and stimulate their little minds.” A
thrust at the ignorance of grown people, regarding what children like,
is further seen in Johnson’s remark that parents buy, but girls and
boys seldom read what is calculated for them.
There are many to praise Newbery’s prints; they were more or less
oddities, even in their own time. Their usefulness was typified in such
books as the “Circle of Sciences,” a compendium of universal knowledge;
their attractiveness was dependent not only upon the beauty of their
make, but also upon the queerness of their _format_; for example,
such volumes as were called the snuff-box series, or ready references
for waistcoat pockets. Then there was the combination plan, indicated
in the announcement: “A Little Pretty Pocket-Book, intended for the
Instruction and Amusement of Little Master Tommy and Pretty Miss Polly,
with an agreeable letter to read from Jack-the-Giant-Killer, as also a
Ball and Pincushion, the use of which will infallibly make Tommy a Good
Boy, and Polly a Good Girl.... Price of the Book alone, 6d., with a
Ball or Pincushion, 8d.”
The variety of Newbery’s ideas resulted in every species of
book-publishing, from a children’s magazine (_The Lilliputian_), with
Goldsmith as the reputed editor, to a child’s grammar. Interested
one moment in a machine for the colouring of silks and cloths, at
another he would be extolling the fever powders of Dr. James, a whilom
schoolfellow of Johnson. He was untiring in his business activity. His
firm changed name many times, but always Newbery remained the dominant
figure. After his death, the business continued for some while to be
identified with its founder, and for a long period his original policy
was continued. Francis Newbery, the son, left an autobiography of
historic value.
Newbery’s real genius consisted in his trading ability. Modern
advertising is not more clever than that practised by this shrewd man
of the eighteenth century. Not only was he in the habit of soliciting
puffs, and of making some of the characters in his stories proclaim
the excellencies of his books, but the personal note and the friendly
feeling displayed in his newspaper items were uncommonly intimate.
Witness the London _Chronicle_ for December 19–January 1, 1765:
“The Philosophers, Politicians, Necromancers, and the learned in every
faculty are desired to observe that on the first of January, being New
Year’s day (oh, that we all may lead new lives!), Mr. Newbery intends
to publish the following important volumes, bound and gilt, and hereby
invites all his little friends who are good to call for them at the
Bible and Sun, in St. Paul’s Churchyard, but those who are naughty to
have none.”
Thomas in later years adopted the same method of advertising.
The most thorough piece of research work done by Mr. Charles Welsh
is his “A Bookseller of the Last Century.” Had he aimed at nothing
more than preserving the catalogue of Newbery’s books, he would have
rendered a great service to the library student. But he has in
addition written a very complete life of Newbery. When it is noted that
this printer was brought into business relations with Robert Raikes,
and was further connected with him by the union of Newbery’s son with
Raikes’ sister, it is safe to believe that some of the piousness which
crept into the publisher’s wares was encouraged by the zealous spirit
of the founder of Sunday-schools. Raikes will be dealt with in his
proper place.
Newbery was what may be termed an enthusiastic publisher, a careful
manufacturer of books of the flower-and-gilt species. As a friend he
has been pictured nothing loath to help the needy, but always with
generous security and heavy interest attached; he was a business man
above all else, and that betokens keenness for a bargain, a keenness
akin to cleverness rather than to graciousness. In his “Life of
Goldsmith,” Washington Irving is inclined to be severe in his estimate;
he writes:
“The poet [Goldsmith] has celebrated him as the friend of all mankind;
he certainly lost nothing by his friendship. He coined the brains of
authors in the times of their exigency, and made them pay dear for the
plank put out to keep them from drowning. It is not likely his death
caused much lamentation among the scribbling tribe.”
One difficulty Newbery had to contend with was the piracy of his books;
there was no adequate protection afforded by the copyright system, and
we read of Goldsmith and Johnson bewailing the literary thievery of
the day. By some it was regarded as a custom to be accepted; by others
as a deplorable condition beyond control. Early American authorship
suffered from the same evil, and Irving and Cooper were the two
prominent victims.
The book list of Isaiah Thomas (1749–1831), the Worcester,
Massachusetts printer, shows how freely he drew from the London
bookseller. Called by many the Didot of America, founder of the
American Antiquarian Society, author of one of the most authentic
histories of early printing in this country, he is the pioneer of
children’s books for America. He scattered his presses and stores
over a region embracing Worcester and Boston, Mass.; Concord, N.
H.; Baltimore, Md.; and Albany, N. Y. Books were kept by him, so he
vouched, specially for the instruction and amusement of children, to
make them safe and happy. In his “Memoirs” there is found abundant
material to satisfy one as to the nature of reading for young folks in
New England, previous to the Revolution.
Emerson writes in his “Spiritual Laws” regarding “theological
problems”; he calls them “the soul’s mumps and measles and
whooping-cough.” Already the sombre sternness of Colonial literature
for children has been typified in the “New England Primer.” The
benefits of divine songs and praises; the reiteration of the joy
to parents, consequent upon the behaviour of godly children; the
mandates, the terrible finger of retribution, the warning to all
sinners lurking in the throat disease which was prevalent at one
time--all these ogres rise up in the Thomas book to crush juvenile
exuberance. Does it take much description to get at the miserable
heart of the early piety displayed by the heroines of Cotton Mather’s
volumes, those stone images of unthinkable children who passed away
early, who were reclaimed from disobedience, “children in whom the fear
of God was remarkably budding before they died”? Writers never fail to
say, in speaking of Thomas White’s “Little Book for Children” (reprint
of 1702), that its immortality, in the face of all its theology, is
centred in one famous untheological line, “A was an archer who shot at
a frog.”
What Thomas did, when he began taking from Newbery, was to change
colloquial English terms to fit new environment; the coach no longer
belongs to the Lord Mayor, but to the Governor instead.[29] The text
is only slightly altered. We recognise the same little boys who would
become great masters; the same ear-marks stigmatise the heroines of
“The Juvenile Biographer,” insufferable apostles of surname-meaning,
Mistresses Allgood, Careful, and Lovebook, together with Mr. Badenough.
Oh, Betsey and Nancy and Amelia and Billy, did you know what it was to
romp and play?
The evident desire on the part of Miss Hewins, in her discussion of
early juvenile books, to emphasise the playful, in her quotations
from Thomas’ stories, only indicates that there was little levity
to deal with. Those were the days of gilded “Gifts” and “Delights”;
the pleasures of childhood were strangely considered; goodness was
inculcated by making the hair stand on end in fright, by picturing to
the naughty boy what animal he was soon to turn into, and what foul
beast’s disposition was akin to that of the fractious girl. Intentions,
both of an educational and religious nature, were excellent, no doubt;
but, when all is estimated, the residue presents a miserable, lifeless
ash.[30]
So far no distinctive writer for children has arisen. The volumes
issued by Newbery represent a conscious attempt to appeal through
_form_ to the juvenile eye. If the books were addressed intentionally
to children, their amusement consisted in some extraneous novelty; it
was rarely contained in the story. Action rather than motive is the
redeeming feature of “Goody Two Shoes.” As for religious training, it
was administered to the child with no regard for his individual needs.
He represented a theological stage of sin; the world was a long dark
road, through the maze of which, by his birth, he was doomed to fight
his little way. Life was a probationary period.
It is now necessary to leave the New England book, and to return to it
through another channel. The viewpoint shifts slightly; a new element
is to be added: a self-conscious recognition of education for children.
The sternness of the “New England Primer” possessed strength. The
didactic school, retaining the moral factor,--several points removed
from theology--sentimentalised it; for many a day it was to exist in
juvenile literature rampant. And, overflowing its borders, it was to
influence later chap-books, and some of the later publications of
Thomas and Newbery. Through Hannah More, it was to grip Peter Parley,
and finally to die out on American shores. For “Queechy” and “The Wide,
Wide World” represent the final flowering of this style. In order to
retain a clear connection, it is necessary to watch both streams,
educational and moral, one at first blending with the other, and
flourishing in this country through a long list of New England authors,
until, in the end, the educational, increasing in volume, conquered
altogether.
=Bibliographical Note=
THE BABEES BOOK--Ed. Frederick J. Furnivall, M.A. Published for the
Early English Text Society. London, Trübner, 1868.
In the foreword, note the following:
Education in early England:
1. In Nobles’ Houses; 2. At Home and at Private Tutors’; 3. At
English Universities; 4. At Foreign Universities; 5. At Monastic
and Cathedral Schools; 6. At Grammar Schools. _Vide_ the several
other prefaces.
This collection contains:
1. The Babees Book, or a ‘Lytyl Reporte’ of How Young People Should
Behave (_circa_ 1475 A.D.); 2. The A B C of Aristotle (1430 A.D.);
3. The Book of Curteisie That is Clepid Stans Puer ad Mensam (1430
A.D.); 4. The boke of Nurture, or Schoole of good maners: For Men,
Servants, and children (1577); 5. The Schoole of Vertue, and booke
of good Nourture for chyldren and youth to learne theyr dutie by
(1557).
_Vide_ Vol. iv, Percy Society, London, 1841: 1. The Boke of
Curtasye, ed. J. O. Halliwell. 2. Specimens of Old Christmas
Carols, ed. T. Wright. 3. The Nursery Rhymes of England, ed. J. O.
Halliwell, 1842: _a._ Historical; _b._ Tales; _c._ Jingles; _d._
Riddles; _e._ Proverbs; _f._ Lullabies; _g._ Charms; _h._ Games;
_i._ Literal; _j._ Paradoxes; _k._ Scholastic; _l._ Customs; _m._
Songs; _n._ Fragments.
_Vide_ Vol. xxix, Percy Society, London, 1849. Notices of Fugitive
Tracts and Chap-books printed at Aldermary Churchyard, Bow
Churchyard, etc., ed. J. O. Halliwell.
* * * * *
ASHTON, JOHN--Chap-books of the 18th Century.
ASHTON, JOHN--Social Life in the Time of Queen Anne.
BERGENGREN, R.--Boswell’s Chap-books and Others. _Lamp_, 28:39–44
(Feb., 1904).
CHAMBERS, W.--Historical Sketch of Popular Literature and Its Influence
on Society, 1863.
CUNNINGHAM, R. H.--Amusing Prose Chap-books. Glasgow, 1889.
FAXON, FREDERICK WINTHROP--A Bibliography of the Modern Chap-books and
their Imitators (Bulletin of Bibl. Pamphl. No. 11), Boston Book
Co., 1903. [A “freak” movement, beginning with the publication of
_Chap-book_, at Cambridge, May 15, 1894.]
FERGUSON, CHANCELLOR--On the Chap-books in the Bibliotheca Jacksoniana
in Tullie House, Carlisle. _Archaeolog. Jour._, 52:292 (1895).
FRASER, JOHN--Scottish Chap-books. (2 pts.) New York, Hinton, 1873.
GERRING, CHARLES--Notes on Printers and Booksellers, with a Chapter on
Chap-books. London, 1900.
HALLIWELL, JAMES ORCHARD--A Catalogue of Chap-books, Garlands, and
Popular Histories in the Possession of Halliwell. London, 1849.
HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY--Catalogue of English and American Chap-books
and Broadside Ballads in 1905 (Bibl. contrib. No. 56).
NISARD, MARIE LÉONARD CHARLES--Histoire des Livres Populaires ou de
la Littérature du Colportage, depuis l’origine de l’imprimerie
jusqu’ à l’établissement de la Commission d’examen des livres du
Colportage (30 Nov., 1852) [2 vols.]. Paris, Dentu, 1864.
PEARSON, EDWIN--Banbury Chap-books and Nursery Toy Book Literature of
the 18th and Early 19th Centuries. London, 1890.
PYLE, HOWARD--Chap-book Heroes. _Harper’s Monthly Magazine_, 81:123
(1890).
SIEVEKING, S. GIBERNE--The Mediæval Chap-book as an Educational Factor
in the Past. _The Reliquary and Illus. Archaeolog._, 9:241 (1903).
* * * * *
The student is referred to the following invaluable reference for
matter relating to New England literature: Catalogue of the
American Library of the Late Mr. George Brinley of Hartford, Conn.
(5 pts.) Hartford: Press of the Case, Lockwood, and Brainard Co.,
1878–97. Not completed. Comprising a list of Books printed at
Cambridge and Boston, 1640–1709.
Pt. I.--The Bay Psalm Book, No. 847; Almanacs, 1646–1707; The
Mathers, Special Chapter of References.
Pt. III.--Bibles, 146; Catechisms and Primers, New England Primer,
158; Music and Psalmody, 163; Psalms and Hymns, 172.
Pt. IV.--Continuation of Psalms and Hymns; Bibl. Ref. to
Denominational Churches, Law, Government, Political Economy,
Sciences, etc.; Popular Literature: Jest Books, Anecdotes, 131;
Chap-books, 135; Books for Children, 139; Mother Goose, 140;
Primers and Catechisms, 141; Educational, 143; Almanacs, 163;
Theology, 177.
Pt. V.--Newspapers and Periodicals, 137.
FORD, PAUL LEICESTER--The New England Primer (ed.). N. Y., Dodd, Mead,
1897. (Edition limited.) [_Vide_ excellent bibliography.]
The New England Primer. _Bookman_, 4:122–131 (Oct., 1896).
JOHNSON, CLIFTON--The New England Primer. _New England Mag._,
n.s. 28:323. (May, 1903.) [Some essential data, but written
superficially.]
MARBLE, ANNIE RUSSELL--Early New England Almanacs. _New England Mag._,
n.s. 19:548. (Jan., 1899.) [_Vide_ also Griswold’s Curiosities
of American Literature; Tyler’s History of American Literature;
Thomas’s History of Printing. A collection of Almanacs is owned by
the Am. Antiq. Soc., Worcester, Mass.]
* * * * *
COLLIN DE PLANCY--Memories of Perrault.
DILLAYE, FRÉDÉRIC--Les Contes de Perrault (ed.). Paris, 1880.
LANG, ANDREW--Perrault’s Popular Tales; edited from the original
editions, with an introduction by. Oxford, Clarendon Press, 1888.
[A concise and agreeable introduction to the study of folk-lore in
general, and of a few noted tales in particular.]
OLD-FASHIONED FAIRY TALES--Madame D’Aulnoy, Charles Perrault, etc.
Little, Brown, $1.00.
OLD FRENCH FAIRY TALES--C. Perrault, Madame D’Aulnoy. Little, Brown,
$1.00.
D’ANOIS, COUNTESS--Fairy Tales, Translated from the French of. (2
vols.) London, 1817.
D’AULNOY, COMTESSE--Mémoires de la. [_Vide_ Collection pour les jeunes
filles.]
HALE, EDWARD EVERETT--Reprint of the Monroe and Francis Mother Goose.
GREEN, P. B.--History of Nursery Rhymes. London, 1899.
HEADLAND, J. T.--Chinese Mother Goose. Chicago, 1900.
HALLIWELL, J. O.--Nursery Rhymes of England; collected principally from
oral tradition. London, 1842. [The Percy Society, Early English
Poetry.]
Popular Rhymes and Nursery Tales. A Sequel to Nursery Rhymes.
London, 1849.
RITSON, JOSEPH--Gammer Gurton’s Garland; or, The Nursery Parnassus.
London, 1810; reprint 1866.
WELSH, CHARLES--An Appeal for Nursery Rhymes and Jingles. _Dial_
(Chicago), 27:230 (1 Oct., 1899).
* * * * *
FATHER OF CHILDREN’S BOOKS--_Current Literature_, 27:110.
WELSH, CHARLES--A Bookseller of the Last Century. Griffith, Farren &
Co. London.
* * * * *
BATCHELDER, F. R.--Patriot Printer. _New England Mag._, n.s. 25:284 (N.
‘01).
EVANS, CHARLES--American Bibliography. A Chronological Dictionary of
all Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the
United States of America. From the genesis of Printing in 1639
Down to and Including the Year 1820. With Bibliographical and
Biographical Notes. Privately Printed for the Author by the Blakely
Press, Chicago. Anno Domini MDCCCCIII. Thus far issued: Vol. I.
1639–1729; Vol. II. 1730–1750; Vol. III. 1751–1764.
* * * * *
LIVINGSTON, L. S.--American Publisher of a Hundred Years Ago.
_Bookman_, 11:530 (Aug., ’00).
NICHOLS, CHARLES L.--Some Notes on Isaiah Thomas and his Worcester
Imprints. _Am. Antiq. Soc._, 1899–1900, n.s., 13:429.
THOMAS, BENJAMIN FRANKLIN--Memoir of Isaiah Thomas. By his Grandson.
Boston, 1874.
* * * * *
HEWINS, CAROLINE M.--The History of Children’s Books. _Atlantic_,
61:112 (Jan., 1888).
WELSH, CHARLES.--The Early History of Children’s Books in New England.
_New England Mag._, n.s. 20:147–60 (April, 1899).
YONGE, CHARLOTTE M.--Children’s Literature of the Last Century. _Liv.
Age_, 102:373 (Aug. 7, 1869); 612 (Sept. 4, 1869); 103:96 (Oct. 9,
1869).