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The infant's library. London: Made and sold by John Marshall, [1800–1801?]. CCD.7.10.43
The infant's library was published in around 1800.
It was one of the earliest of the nineteenth-century collections of miniature
books to be aimed specifically at children, and came in its own custom-made
wooden bookcase. On the back of the bookcase is a label reading "The infant's
library, made and sold by John Marshall, Printer and Bookseller, No. 4
Aldermary Church Yard, London, where may be had a great variety of books and
schemes for the instruction and amusement of young people". The collection
comprises 16 volumes, each measuring approximately 6x4.5 cm and comprising one
stitched gathering of either 32 or 64 pages. Each volume is bound in a
different coloured paper, with a cut-out ornamental label on both front and
back. The covers are not consistent within different extant copies of the
collection; it seems that the binder simply used the nearest colour and label
to hand for any particular volume. All but 2 of the volumes are illustrated
throughout, with woodcuts and engravings facing the descriptive text. The first
15 volumes are numbered and cover various subjects suitable for young readers,
including the alphabet; a reading book dividing words into syllables; games for
girls and games for boys; flowers; animals; buildings; domestic objects (a tea
cup, a bird cage, an ink stand and so forth); and various volumes of oudoor
scenes (a farmer, a man leading a horse, a windmill and many more). The final
volume is entitled A short history of England for the Infant's
library, and is in fact a summary account of the rulers of England from
1066 until the time of publication, finishing with "Our present most gracious
sovereign George III and his amiable consort Queen Charlotte".
The texts are anonymous, as was often the case with works for children written by otherwise well-known authors, perhaps to protect their reputations. The author does present him (or her-) self in the introduction to vol. 3: "To ---. My dear, These little volumes I dedicate to you, as they were principally intended for your amusement, and when you are acquainted with the source from whence they came, you will know how very dear you are to The Author". John Marshall was publisher for several prominent children's authors including Dorothy Kilner, her sister Mary Anne Kilner (who write under the pseudonym S.S.) and Lady Fenn (who wrote under the names Mrs Teachwell and Mrs Lovechild), and it is possible that one of these may have been the author of The infant's library.. This author offers a few clues to their personality in the short written texts, addressing the readers directly and using a gently moralising tone: "Here is a stand with pens and ink. Do not play with the ink-stand, Maria, you will spoil your frock"; "It is a pity to confine the bird in the cage; young folk should be careful to treat animals with kindness"; "Whatever this building has been designed for I cannot tell, but now it seems to be made use of as a pigeon-house". The most notable piece of admonition accompanies this illustration of girls playing on a swing: "This is a very dangerous play, and very improper for young ladies". Young boys are told that their games with bow and arrow can be dangerous, and warned of leap-frog "When you amuse yourselves with this play you should be very careful not to throw each other down".
John Marshall, the printer, was heir to a family history of
producing books for children. His father Richard had been a publisher of
chap-books, the cheap publications aimed at the lower end of the book-buying
market and sold by itinerant tradesmen, for several decades during the third
quarter of the eighteenth century. Richard worked in conjunction with another
major London printer, Cluer Dicey, turning out books at such a high rate that
they have been called 'probably the largest chap-book factory of the eighteenth
century'. The 1764 Catalogue of maps, prints, copy-books, drawing-books,
histories, old ballads, patters, collections &c., printed and sold by Cluer
Dicey and Richard Marshall at the Printing Office in Aldermary Church-yard included over 1000 engravings, 3000 ballads, 150 separate histories and
numerous other publications. In 1783 John Marshall succeeded to the running of
the warehouse at Aldermary Church-yard, and in 1795 was appointed official
London printer to the Cheap Repository, producers of religious tracts. Around a
hundred titles were published between 1795 and 1798, printed by Marshall in
London and Samuel Hazard in Bath. These tracts were not subtle in their sbject
matter; a typical title is The story of Sinful Sally. Told by herself.
Shewing how from being Sally of the Green she was first led to become Sinful
Sally, and afterwards Drunken Sal; and how at last she came to a melancholy and
almost hopeless end; being therein a warning to all young women in both town
and country. These simple tracts, aimed to bridge the gap between
scandalous popular chapbooks and serious theological tracts, must have been a
great moneyspinner for Marshall, as over two million were sold in the first
year alone.
T
he infant's library was one of Marshall's more innovative
publishing works. While he had produced numerous children's books already, this
small-scale library was one of the first sets of miniature books aimed
specifically at children. Small books had been printed for children during the
18th century, including titles by well-known printers John Newbery and Thomas
Boreman, but never before had a series of books been published in this way. The
use of a miniature bookcase to house the books was a clever marketing ploy to
ensure readers bought the whole series, in order to complete their 'library'.
The volumes were advertised in 1801 in copies of the Juvenile Child's
Library, a journal issued by Marshall, at six shillings for the complete
set, but could also be purchased individually. A set was sold at Sotheby's in
1968 for £120, and none has appeared on the market subsequently. Other
editions of the Library survive from 1819, 1821 and 1830 (although the
University Library holds only the first edition), and there were also versions
produced with French, German and Latin texts; only one copy of the Latin is
known. Other similar works were published in the years soon after, including
another title by Marshall, The infant's cabinet of various objects,
and The Cabinet of Lilliput published by Marshall's competitor John
Harris.
The infant's library is part of the University Library's Chapbooks and Juvenile Literature collection. Based around the donations of Spencer George Perceval and J.W.L. Glaisher, the collection includes nearly 4000 volumes of chapbooks and children's books, many of which are unique survivals from this early period of popular printing. The Library was given by B.W. Downs, Master of Christ's College (1950-1963). For other examples of the illustrations of the various subjects, click here.
References and further reading:
- S. Roscoe, 'John Marshall and The infant's library', The Book Collector 4 (1955), pp. 148-155. B990.15.6
- L.W. Bondy, Miniature books (London: Sheppard Press, 1981). B179.2
- F.J. Harvey Darton, Children's books in England, 3rd ed. (London: The British Library, 1999). 9001.b.5569
- A.W. Tuer, 'The infant's library', Notes and Queries, 9th ser., IV (23 September 1899), p. 250. R904.2
- G.H. Spinney, 'Cheap repository tracts: Hazard and Marshall edition', The Library, 4th ser. XX (1939), p. 295-340. P850.c.54.50
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