Observations on the most important subjects of education : containing many useful hints to mothers, but chiefly intended for private governesses

This is the second set in the "Women's Education in the Nineteenth Century" series, following on from "Female Education Considered: Nineteenth-Century Britain". It consists of six volumes that give moral and practical advice to home educators of children, with a particular emphasis on governesses. All the books are very rare and the set should constitute a valuable resource for students and scholars of 19th-century studies and the history of education. It will be followed by a third set in the series: "The Mother: Education in the Home". These six volumes range in date from 1815 to 1883 and thus provide a broad overview of governess education in 19th-century Britain. Elizabeth Appleton's "Private Education" (1815) contains advice on the management of girls in the home and the teaching of subjects deemed to be suitable for girls at this time. It is enhanced with printed notes in the margins throughout. Observations on the "Most Important Subjects of Education" (1818) was written by an exgoverness, R.C. Dallaway, and concentrates on the religious teaching of children in the home. Bessie Rayner Parkes's "Essays on Woman's Work" were "composed during eight years passed with many fellow-workers in investigating the condition of the educated working women of England" and were dedicated "to the dear and honoured memory of Anna Jameson". In "My Governess Life"; or, "Using my one Talent" (1883), Emma Raymond Pitman describes her experiences as a governess and offers advice to would-be governesses based on these experiences. Volume 7 is a collection of seven articles written between 1844 and 1889 on various aspects of the governess institution in the 19th century. For example, in her essay entitled "On the Relative Social Position of Mothers and Governesses" (1846) Anna Jameson deplores the lower status accorded to women in general and particularly to female teachers of all kinds, arguing strongly for a change in attitude towards women in society.