Children's books in England : five centuries of social life

Bibliographic Information

Children's books in England : five centuries of social life

Frederick Joseph Harvey Darton

(Cambridge library collection)

Cambridge University Press, 2011, c1932

  • : pbk

Available at  / 2 libraries

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Note

Reprint of the 1932 ed.

"This digitally printed version 2011"--T.p. verso

"This book reproduces the text of the original edition. The content and language reflect the beliefs, practices and terminology of their time, and have not been updated."--T.p. verso

Includes index

Includes brief book list at end of each chapter

Description and Table of Contents

Description

From fables to fairy tales, romances to nursery rhymes, this highly influential 1932 study analyses the evolution of children's literature. Publisher and writer F. J. Harvey Darton (1878-1936) draws upon his family's involvement in children's publishing since the late eighteenth century, his knowledge of medieval literature, and his own extensive collection of children's books to present the first account of English children's literature seen as a continuous whole. Setting children's books in their historical context, the work reflects much about the history of English social life as well as providing an in-depth perspective on the genre - in the author's words 'a chronicle of the English people in their capacity of parents, guardians and educators of children'. A classic and authoritative study for anyone interested in the history of children's literature, Darton's book remains an invaluable source of information on the genre.

Table of Contents

  • Preface
  • 1. An introductory survey
  • 2. The legacy of the middle ages: i. Fables
  • 3. The legacy of the middle ages: ii. Romance and manners
  • 4. The Puritans: 'Good godly books'
  • 5. The Pedlar's pack: 'The running stationers'
  • 6. Fairy-tale and nursery rhyme
  • 7. Interim: between the old and the new
  • 8. John Newbery
  • 9. The theorists: Thomas Day, the Edgeworths, and French influence
  • 10. The moral tale: i. Didactic
  • 11. The moral tale: ii. Persuasive, chiefly in verse
  • 12. Interim again: the dawn of levity
  • 13. Two New Englands: 'Peter Parley' and 'Felix Summerly'
  • 14. The Sixties, Alice and after
  • 15. The Eighties and to-day: freedom
  • Index.

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