CHILDREN’S LITERATURE

As early as the 15th century, ‘courtesy books’ which instructed children on manners and behaviour were published, but it was not until the 17th century that stories for children were produced, and these were strictly moralistic in tone. Children read adult books like Bunyan’s Prilgrim’s Progress , Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe and Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels, but it was the 18th Century before books intended for children to read solely for pleasure started to appear. Crude chapbooks (mainly pamphlets of popular tales, ballads and tracts) also appeared in large numbers, followed in the early 19th century by more serious works like Maria Edgeworth’s Moral Tales and Wyss’s The Swiss Family Robinson.

Books for children soon began to be divided into categories, e.g. adventure, animal stories, fantasy, etc. Fairy-tales became popular with the publication of the Grimm Brothers’ tales published in England under the title German Popular Stories.

During the 2nd half of the 19th century many classics of children’s literature, e.g. Tom Brown’s Schooldays, Little Women, Black Beauty, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Treasure Island, Jungle Book, etc, were published, all of which are as popular today as they were then. The first book in which the illustrations were as important as the text was Little Black Sambo, followed by the Beatrix Potter Peter Rabbit books.

The 20th century produced many children’s stories of lasting quality, such as The Wind in the Willows, The Secret Garden, Winnie the Pooh, The Hobbit, etc. The publication of children’s books (particularly in the fantasy category), is now a huge industry, with its own annual awards and medals. Authors and publishers are now much more careful than in previous centuries to show sensitivity towards issues of racism and sexism.

The books displayed are a few of the children’s books from the Oliver Collection. Editions illustrated by Arthur Rackham will be displayed in the next exhibition.

The History of Sandford and Merton, a work intended for the use of children. 1791.

Gardiner, William. The story of Pigou, a Malay boy … incidents and anecdotes … arranged for the instruction … of young persons. 1822.

The New Cries of London … with characteristic engravings. 1823.

Carroll, Lewis. Through the looking-glass and what Alice found there. 1872. (This edition with illustrations by John Tenniel has a special mention in Children’s Books of Yesterday, by Philip James, 1933)

Tom Brown’s School Days, by an old boy. 6^th ed. 1890.

Grimm’s Fairy Tales. 1933.

Links

dated – 20 July 2004

Barry Wintour wintourbjc@aol.com