Ptak Science Books

Recording the Commonplace from the Viewpoint of a Child, 1868

JF Ptak Science Books   Post 1966     Part of the series on Antique Children's Art
 
    

It is difficult to find children's art from the 19th century--original work, printed work, published work.  Very difficult--perhaps even more so for the published work than the manuscript.  It is easy to understand why:  first, the children would need access to paper and pencil or pen and ink--items that had some cost, that were not inexpensive, not available to the vast majority of children. Their work was ephemeral, produced on slate, or in horn books, or in charcoal on a wall, or in dust.  Then, if the children did manage to record their creativity, then it would have to survive a generation of possessionship within their own lifetimes--to survive from the first part of the 19th century, the paperwork would have to survive five generations or more, 150+ years of house cleanings.  Tough odds.

One way that this artwork survives is accidentally, as in the case below. Scribbles, notes, sketches, finding their way into ledgers and notebooks and works for children--the book closed, placed on a shelf, and perhaps forgotten. Put away in a trunk, saved in an attic, stored.  And then, finally, found again after a century or two.  Opened, the book of seeming nothingness is loaded with, well, everything.  In this glorious example, ironically titled Blank Books, the books are anything but, now.  This notebook was intended as a Ledger for the Merchant, and there was a bit of that done...but at some point, the ledger became a practice book, a tablet. And from the looks of it, from the scribbled date in practice signatures over the ledger columns, that change took place around 1868.

And in the blank spaces of the ledger and notations appear all sorts of everyday things, the sort of stuff that might be invisible to an adult because we take it for granted--perhaps not so with children, who might be fascinated by these objects because they have only been cognizant human beings for a few years.  (It never fails to amaze me when I look at the photographs that our daughters made when they were three or four, wandering--and I could write "wondering"--around the house with a digicam.  The images they recorded were things that were mostly part of the background hum of everyday life for me, except that their pictures were made at their eye level and gave a new meaning to these objects, for me.)  What the child/children recorded in this dead ledger were common objects in 1868.  Perhaps they are of a forgotten commonness.  Whatever the case, it gives these objects a renewed interest to the observer of the future and our present simply because a child saw fit to draw them in the limited space in which they could draw. 

Wicked Polly Reveals the Sameness of Names, 1827

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

In my collecting of antique children's art (that is, art produced by children from 1880 and earlier) I've stumbled across a number of interesting other associated, relateable,  things.  One such item is this manuscript copy--from 1827--of a much older children's warning/lesson poem, called "The Lamentable Story of Wicked Polly", a scare-the-kids-to-death kind of poem, instilling (and installing) a very healthy dosage of the wrath of god, a falling away from the just Jesus, and the regretably-late realization on the everlasting pain of sin.  A rosey children's lullaby it is not.

[The lyrics are below; click on the images for a more legible resolution.]

But the side interest here is literally at the side, a perhaps revealing bit of marginalia in which the copyist has recorded the names of 54 children (I imagine).  Are these names the names of classmates, other children in school, kids in town?   There are 26 girls and 28 boys; the girls, as it turns out, have 9 different names; the 28 boys have 18 different names. I wonder why?  The girls have the following names (and with the number of holders):  Ann (7), Ekiza (4), Mary (4), Hannah (3), Sarah (3), Mary (3), Jane (2) and then one each for Lydia, Sidney and Maria. 

The boys have more imaginative names:  most popular are William (4) and John (4); this is followed by Joseph (3), James (2), and Abraham (2).  The rest of the names are single-uses, and include: Achilles, Joshua, George, Absolom, Enos, Thomas, Pinkney, Charles, Edward, Zachoria, Isaac, Dening and Reason.  This is a small and unexpected sample, but it is interesting nonetheless--I don't even have an explanation, just this observation. 

                                    

An Orchestra of Child Prodigies, 1876

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post 

I am not sure that I have ever seen an image of an orchestra composed entirely of children, so I reprint this, found in the pages of an 1876 volume of Punch Magazine.

"THE YOUNG PEOPLE'S ORCHESTRAL CONCERT." ALL INFANT PRODIGIES.

A Note on the Rarity of Published Artwork of Children pre-1900

JF Ptak Science Books  Quick Post

I've written a number of posts in this blog about the great scarcity of the antiquarian published art of children (here) and couldn't help but make a quick post of this very recent find.  It occurs in the page of the August issue of the London Punch, and even though graffiti, this is definitely the artwork of a child, crept into the page of a popular journal.  And as I say in a number of early posts, this work is really quite rare. 

Another Example of Antique Artwork by Children, 1888 (though not really)

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post   [Part of the antiquarian art for/by children series.]

--The Sublime Antiquarian Art of Children, here.     

--An Image Addition to a Series of Posts on the Antiquarian Publication of Artwork by Children, here.

--The Great Rarity and Sublimity of Antiquarian Artwork by Children, here. 

I've written a number of posts to this blog on what I find to be a rare aspect of illustration--antiquarian publishing of artwork by children.  As explained in some of the earlier pieces (linked above) it seems to me that artwork made by children appear generally by chance, although this work starts to make a few appearances in late 19th and early 20th century pedagogical works on how to teach children in school and the layout of the classroom. But in general, the work just didn't see much light of day in the publishing world.

This image, found in the 24 January 1888 issue of Punch, or the London Charivari magazine, comes close to the issue, but not really--I'm sure that the work is that of one of the magazine's full-time illustrators.  But the fates are in this image's favor simply for bringing attention to the art of the very young.  I particularly like the image at bottom, with the small boy working hard at whatever is on his paper in the lap of his muse, with drawing graffiti on the wall over his head. 

The key to the images, below:

The Book of Accidents Designed for Young Children, 1831.

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

The very Gorey-ish title of this book--seemingly designed to manufacture accidents for children--is actually a children's advocate book. Its a small book, a chapbook, made for small hands, produced on the cheap and meant to be consumed by children and adults alike, warning people of the commonplace dangers that called on children in the 1830's.  Scalding, being kicked by a horse, falling, being injured while playing with knives and candles and firearms, crossing the street, being tossed by a bull or wild horse, falling out of a coach, drowning, playing and throwing stones, tumbling down stairs and the like made a devastating impact on the lives of children--sometimes ending them, as the author points out.  By pointing out these dangers, and by having them read by (or to) children, the author believed that the lives of thousands of children could be saved.

[Image sources:  Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale University.]

The mission statement:

He was correct, of course; its a legendary problem trying to protect children from the obvious.

A Child's Reader on Being a Migrant Farmer, 1940

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 1549

I hardly expected the story that I found in this little square pamphlet, particularly since I had selected it because of its cover art.

Jack of the Bean Fields--written by Nina Millen and published by the Friendship Press of New York--turns out to be a photo-essay on one seasonal adventure of a boy named Jack Marco and his migrant vegetable-picking family.  The story starts with the family in a bad way, heading out on the road in a broken car filled with Jack's mother, father, grandmother and three siblings, out to find a camp where they could find jobs picking early beans. 

As the family fixes the car, Jack heads out to play in the fields, where he finds a book.  We find that--at age 8 or thereabouts--Jack hasn't been taught to read and hasn't been to school in years, and the family doesn't own a single book. The family gets underway, finds a camp, and moves into an empty unit in a series of shanties. They clean the place up, and Jack lays his book on a shelf.  "Now we are settled again" announces Ma.  Wincing.

 

In a story that could have been a very maudlin or saccharin affair, it was surprisingly matter-of-fact, eventually telling how community and church groups appeared through the intercession of a camp nurse to help the migrant families, clothe the children, and send them to school. 

The war was underway, the Depression was on its way out, the economy was beginning to bounce--but then, as today, there were migrant farmers--they just weren't being displaced by Dust Bowl factors anymore.  But, basically, it was a good story for kids, focused mainly on appreciating what we have and our small gifts, such as family--and the ability to read. 

An Image Addition to a Series of Posts on the Antiquarian Publication of Artwork by Children

JF Ptak Science Books   Quick Post

Part of this blog's series on The Antiquarian Publication of Children's Artwork

Continuing an earlier post on the Great Rarity and Sublimity of Antiquarian Artwork by Children

I have found another small bit to add to the few posts I've made on this blog concerning the wide, vacant spaces of antiquarian publications of children's artwork.  Its a small bit, but every bit is very difficult to come by:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that I can safely say that artwork by children does not make very many appearances in Western art prior to the 20th century--published images just don't appear.  Nor do the originals--considering the ephemeral nature of the effort at art by children, their work just don't seem to survive.  Some of that reason--particularly in America--was the scarcity of materials for kids to produce art with: paper was not inexpensive, and neither brushes and paints.  Crayons, invented for chubby and reachy fingers, were not invented for the mass market until 1903.  (Crayola sold eight crayons in a box for a nickel.  The colors?  Black, brown, blue, red, purple, orange, yellow, and green.)   Then of course the artwork would have to be saved, somehow, for generations.  As much as it would be fascinating to find artwork done at age four by your great-great grandparents, it would have to survive the cleansing tendencies of four generations of clean-up.  End result:  there's just not that much antiquarian chldrens' art floating around...

(Continue reading here.)

Found: Children's Advice for Life, 1825

JF Ptak Science Books   Post 1383

I have a small collection of 18th and 19th century notebooks--ciphering books, tally books, keepsakes--kept by children and young adults.  These books are remarkable for their contents, empty scratchbooks filled with whatever was necessary, whatever was important, whatever was trivial.  There are notes about who-owes-what, provisions purchased, goods borrowed; mathematics problems, poesie, miniature observations, memorized bits.  Signatures made over and over again, looking exactly like what children do nowadays, practicing writing their names, perfecting a signature, identifying themselves to themselves in private.  These notebooks are far less formal say than a diary--they caught all sorts of ephemera of the day, stray information, all manner of stray bits. (This notebook is also available from our blog bookstore, here.)

In this notebook, used between 1811 and 1836, there are also repeated personal lessons and life's aphorisms, generally one page each, written over and over,  practicing penmanship by repeating the advice, 

"Youth is the season  for acquiring knowledge" and "Temperance is the last guardian of health":

I find it remarkable that this small item--about 8x5 inches, and having no more than 30 pages--survived in somewhat haphazard and occasionally directed use for more than 25 years.  Then again, paper wasn't all that terribly common among the working poor in the United States at this time, so it is very understandable that this notebook would've been kept, and carefully so, as an important household object--and possibly a significant family-history document.  For those of us today this looks like disposable information, ephemeral knowledge--evidence would say that this was definitely not the case when this book was still being used. 

"Vanity is a Disgrace to shining Qualities":

"Wit is most agreeable when set off by beauty":

And the cover:, which is a curious thing, as someone kept track of "days" on a number of occasions here, not the least of which ran across the top of the book:

The record of items purchased, of money charged for labor, allows us a peep into the daily working life during the first part of the 19th century:

Purchases made included 2 pounds of butter (15 cents), six pounds and a half of veal ($2.00), a gallon of molasses (30 cents), "half a berril of flower" (3 dollars), a pound of wool (12 cents), plus pork, potatoes, tea, salt, corn, rye

The labor is also of interest:  renting the services of two yoke of oxen for one day seems to have cost one dollar, "tapping in a pair of boots" (30 cents), "one day's work on shaving hoops" (50 cents), and then many entries for "one days work a planting" and "a mowing" which seems to have been 50 cents; "hauling wood one day" was also 50 cents.  It seems as though you could exchange a day's labor for two pounds of butter, a pound of wool, and two pounds of potatoes--at hose rates, I suspect that these people would've considered the veal to be a luxury meal. 

Magnificent Displays of Quantitative Data by 5-Year-Olds

JF Ptak Science Books

"Do You Want to be a Whale or a Eagel?"[sic]

Walking down the hall of my daughter Tess' school today I came across these absolutely brilliant displays of information tacked up on bulletin boards.  The kids polled their classmates on whether they would rather be a whale or an eagle.  The designs of the survey results were staggering to me, purely brilliant reasoning and expression.

The results here are magnificently displayed, elegant and crisp, and of course with a child's beauty.

Another astonishing work of private clarity--I really do need to interview the statistician to find out the deep depth of what is being presented here. It is just beautiful.

And even though I don't quite follow this one, there is a LOT of effort in it:  perhaps the kids were asked to raise their hands for a whale and to stand to be an eagle.  Those hands though I have seen drawn in books and manuscripts going back to the 12th century--they have stayed basically the same for 800 years. 

My best wishes and congratulations to these children at Isaac Dickson School, Asheville, North Carolina.

History of Children, 1/7--the First Illustrated Rendering of the World for Kids: Occupations

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 1285

This is the first of seven installments on introducing 17th and 18th century children to wide ideas.  The text and images all come from the 1726 English translation of John Comenius' Orbita Pictus, and cover the following territory: Part 1, Occupations; Part 2, Anatomy; Part 3, Books and Book Arts; Part 4, the Sciences; Part 5, Morals and Philosophy; Part 6, Games and the Arts; and Part 7, the Military.  

"O Babees yonge, my Book only is made for youre lernynge” says what well may be the first book made in the West for children, written in the 14th century.  It was made for the eyes of noble blood, of course, and was basically a contribution towards how the children should act and behave, rather than teaching them anything outside of their immediate interactions with each other or their parents.  Books of manner and behavior was the dominant—if perhaps the only(?)—category of books for children until the late 16th century.

John Locke, in his Thoughts on Education (1691), suggests that "when a child begins to read, some easy, pleasant book, like Aesop's Fables or Reynard the Fox, with pictures if possible, should be put into his hands". He adds, "What other books there are in English of the kind above-mentioned, fit to engage the liking of children, and tempt them to read, I do not know, but am apt to think, that children, being generally delivered over to the method of schools, where the fear of the rod is to enforce, and not any pleasure of the employment to invite them to learn, this sort of useful books, amongst the number of silly ones that are of all sorts, yet have had the fate to be neglected; and nothing that I know has been considered of this kind out of the ordinary road of the hornbook, primer, Psalter, Testament, and Bible." (This quote from C.M. Watkins article in The Atlantic Monthly, 1880.)

Perhaps the most beautiful of early books for children is found behind this deeply designed title page, brought to us by Christoph Weigel (German, 1654-1726), the author, illustrator and engraver of Die Welt in einer Nuss oder die Historien vom Aufgang der Welt…¹ published in Nurnberg in 1726.  The book was a tall, thin production, with 16 pages of text and 43 engraved plates, much like this one, emblazoned with emblematic studies and dedicated to a particular point in the historical continuum.  And it was intended, believe it or not, for children—the title can be basically translated as “The World in a Nutshell” and was absolutely intended for kids, compressing all of the human story into 16 terse pages and a whole bunch of gorgeous illustration. This image shows the second millennium after the birth of Christ, illustrated with seven engravings (secula septem).

 

 But the first of all of the encyucloepdia-like books fasiohioned for children--and the first with illustratiions--belongs to the very well studied 13. The fteeple-crowned, 15. add te thefe The bald-pated, 14.

The Plow-man, i. yoketh Oxen, 3. to a Plough, 2. and holding the Flow-Rïlt, 4. in his left hand, and the Plow-ftaff, 5. in his right hand, ivith 'which he remcveth Clods, 6. he еutteth the Land {ivhich ivas manured afore ,uiifh Dung, 8.) with a Share, 7. and a Coulter, and makethFurrows, 9. Then he foweth the Seed, 10. and harroweth it in with a Harrow, 11. The Reaper, I2. jheareth the ripe Corn with a Sickle, 13. gatheteth up the handfuls, 14, und bindcth the Sheaves, 45.<t¿í Threiher, 16.; threfieth Corn en the Barn-floor, 17. ,with a Flail, 18. .*. toffeth it in a winnowing bafket, 19.andfo ivhen the Chaff', and the Straw, 20. are ßparatedfrom it, heputteth it into Sacks, 21 ,The Mower, 22. maketh Hay /я я Meadow, tutting do'wn Grafs with a Scythe, 23. and raketh it together üvith a Rake, 24. andmaketh up Cocks, 26. nvith a fork, 25. and carrieth it on Carriages, 27. into the Hay-barn, 28.

 

Vhe Bees find ota ¿r/warm, i. andfiet over it «Leader, 2. That Jkxiarm heing ready to fly away, is recalled hy the Tinkling ef a braaen Vefl.el, 3. and is put up into a neiv Hive, 4. They make little Cells nvith ßx comers, 5. and Jill them with Honey-dew, and make Combs, 6.cut of ivhich the Honey runneth, 7.The Partitions heing melted -with ßre, turn into Wax, 8.

Grinding

In a Mill, i. « ft'one, 2. runneth upen a ft one, 3.A Wheel, 4. turning them ahout, end grindeth Corn poured in by a Hopper, 5. endparteth the Bran, 6. falling into the .Tro ugh, 7. from the Mealßipping through aBolter, 8.Such a Mill voasßrft a Hand-mill, 9. then a Horfe-miil, 10.. then a Water-mill, 11. anda Ship-mill, i2. amdatlaßt a Wind-mill, 13.

 

History of Children, 7/7--the First Illustrated Rendering of the World for Kids: the Military

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 1291    Continuing the post 1285

"Taking the Scarecrows out of Wisdoms Gardens"

This is Part 7/7 of John Comenius' great work, the first illustrated instructional to children, first written in 1676 and then translated into English in 1726--it is from this translation that all of the images (below) are taken.  This is the second of seven installments on introducing 17th and 18th century children to wide ideas, the other sections including: Part 1, Occupations; Part 2, Anatomy; Part 3, Books and Book Arts; Part 4, the Sciences; Part 5, Morals and Philosophy; Part 6, Games and the Arts; and Part 7, the Military.  

The work itself: John Amos Comenius' Orbis Senfualium Piélus: Omnium Principalium in Mundo Rerun/ &f m Vita АШопит,  translated as Pictura et Nomenclatur, the Visible World, or A Nomenclature, and Pictures of all Chief Things that are int he World, translated into English by Charles Hoof...1726.

The purpose of the book, writes the translator in the introduction of the 1726 12th edition, is:  

To entice witty children to it, that they may not conceit a torment to be in the school, but dainty/are., For it is apparent, that children (even from their infancy almost) are delighted with Pictures, and willingly please their eyes with these fights: And it will be very well worth the pains to have once brought it to pafs, that fcare-crows may be taken away out of Wifdom's Gardens..."

Even at this early stage of publishing books for children it was easily recognized that children learn better when eased into their subject with pictures.  This is not so far off the mark with the moderns, and in its own way a precursor to the Dick and Jane and Dr. Seuss books--not so much for subject matter, but for the very act of putting a book into the hands of a child and getting them comfortable wit the idea of reading.  It seems to me that this is by far the most important lesson-the actual content at tis point is secondary to the act of holding a book.  

 

 

When aDeíign is undertaken, the Camp, i. is pitched, and the Tents if Canvas, гor Straw, Jarefaßened •with Stakes; and they entrench them aient, fer ßcurity's fake, •with Bulwark?, 4. and Ditches, 5. Sentinels, 6. ere alí'ofel; and Scouts, 7. arefent out.SaUyings-out, 8.ere made for Forage and Plunder-fake,where they often cope with the Enemy, 9. infiirmijhing.. The Pavilion of the Lord General is in the midßoftht Camp, 10.

il to hi fought, the Army is/et in order, and divided into the Front, 1.the Rear, 2.and the Wings, 3.The Foot, 4. mre intermixed •with the Horfe, 5,That is divided into Companies, this into Troops.Thefe carry Banners, 6. tho/e Flags, 7. in the midft of them.Their Officers are, Corporali, Enfigns, Lieutenants, Captains, 8. Commanders of the Horfe,9, Lieutenant Colonels, Colonels, and he that is the chief of all, the General. The Drummers, 10. and the Drumílades, 11. as alfo the Trumpeters, 12. call to Arms, and inßame the Soldier, At theßrß Onfet the Mofitets, 13. and Ordnance, 14. areßot off. After•wards thtyfight, 15. hand to hand •with Pikes and Swords. They that overcome are flain, 16. tr taken Prifoners, ,r run away, 17. They that are for the referve, 18. come upon thtm

A Sea-fight « terrihle, ,when huge Ships, like Caftles, run one upon another ivith their Beaks, 1 , or ßiatter one another with their Ordnance, 2. und/o, heing hored through, they drink in their own Deßnition, and art funk, 3. Or when they arefet on ßre, mid either hy the ßring of G un-powder, 4.

sr hreaking them doivn with Battering-engine!, 3, er demolifiing themwith great Guns, 4.or breaking through the Gates with a Petard, 5. er caßing Granadoes, 6. tut of M01 tar-pieces, 7. tuto the City,hy Engineers, 8. (ivho He hehind Leaguer-ha&ets, 9.) er 0 uerthroivingit avith Mines hy Pioneers, to. They thait are hefieged defend thtmfelves from the Walls, 11. •with ßre and ßones, &C or hreak out hy force, iz. A City that is taken hy Horra is plundered, deßroyed, andfomelimes laid evtl •with the ground.

 

History of Children, 6/7--the First Illustrated Rendering of the World for Kids: Games and the Arts

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 1290    Continuing the post 1285

"Taking the Scarecrows out of Wisdoms Gardens"

This is Part 6/7 of John Comenius' great work, the first illustrated instructional to children, first written in 1676 and then translated into English in 1726--it is from this translation that all of the images (below) are taken.  This is the second of seven installments on introducing 17th and 18th century children to wide ideas, the other sections including: Part 1, Occupations; Part 2, Anatomy; Part 3, Books and Book Arts; Part 4, the Sciences; Part 5, Morals and Philosophy; Part 6, Games and the Arts; and Part 7, the Military.  

The work itself: John Amos Comenius' Orbis Senfualium Piélus: Omnium Principalium in Mundo Rerun/ &f m Vita АШопит,  translated as Pictura et Nomenclatur, the Visible World, or A Nomenclature, and Pictures of all Chief Things that are int he World, translated into English by Charles Hoof...1726.

The purpose of the book, writes the translator in the introduction of the 1726 12th edition, is:  

To entice witty children to it, that they may not conceit a torment to be in the school, but dainty/are., For it is apparent, that children (even from their infancy almost) are delighted with Pictures, and willingly please their eyes with these fights: And it will be very well worth the pains to have once brought it to pafs, that fcare-crows may be taken away out of Wifdom's Gardens..."

Even at this early stage of publishing books for children it was easily recognized that children learn better when eased into their subject with pictures.  This is not so far off the mark with the moderns, and in its own way a precursor to the Dick and Jane and Dr. Seuss books--not so much for subject matter, but for the very act of putting a book into the hands of a child and getting them comfortable wit the idea of reading.  It seems to me that this is by far the most important lesson-the actual content at tis point is secondary to the act of holding a book.  

In a Play-houie, i. fivhich is trimmed ivith Hangings, 2. andcoveredivith Curtains,3.) Comedies and Tragedies are ailed, ivherein memorable things ere reprejented; as here, the Hißory of the Prodigal Sun, 4. and his Father, 5. hy килnm he is en/ertaiu'd, heing return d home. The Players kß heing in difguife; the Fool, 6. makith Jtßs.

 

 

The History of Children, 5/7--Morals and Philosophy

 JF Ptak Science Books  Post 1289    Continuing the post 1285

"Taking the Scarecrows out of Wisdoms Gardens"

This is Part 5/7 of John Comenius' great work, the first illustrated instructional to children, first written in 1676 and then translated into English in 1726--it is from this translation that all of the images (below) are taken.  This is the second of seven installments on introducing 17th and 18th century children to wide ideas, the other sections including: Part 1, Occupations; Part 2, Anatomy; Part 3, Books and Book Arts; Part 4, the Sciences; Part 5, Morals and Philosophy; Part 6, Games and the Arts; and Part 7, the Military.  

The work itself: John Amos Comenius' Orbis Senfualium Piélus: Omnium Principalium in Mundo Rerun/ &f m Vita АШопит,  translated as Pictura et Nomenclatur, the Visible World, or A Nomenclature, and Pictures of all Chief Things that are int he World, translated into English by Charles Hoof...1726.

The purpose of the book, writes the translator in the introduction of the 1726 12th edition, is:  

To entice witty children to it, that they may not conceit a torment to be in the school, but dainty/are., For it is apparent, that children (even from their infancy almost) are delighted with Pictures, and willingly please their eyes with these fights: And it will be very well worth the pains to have once brought it to pafs, that fcare-crows may be taken away out of Wifdom's Gardens..."

Even at this early stage of publishing books for children it was easily recognized that children learn better when eased into their subject with pictures.  This is not so far off the mark with the moderns, and in its own way a precursor to the Dick and Jane and Dr. Seuss books--not so much for subject matter, but for the very act of putting a book into the hands of a child and getting them comfortable wit the idea of reading.  It seems to me that this is by far the most important lesson-the actual content at tis point is secondary to the act of holding a book.  

This Life is a way, or a place divided into two ways, iike

Pythagoras'/ Letter Y. i road, i. on the left-hand track; narrcw, 2. on the right; that helongs to Vice, 3. this to Virtue, 4. Mind, young Man, J. imitate Hercules; leave the lift hand чыaу, turn from Fice i the Entrance, 6. is fair, hut the End, f. it ugly andßetp down. Go on the right hand, though it he thorny, 8. no 'way is unpaffahleto virtue; follow -whither Vitha Itadeth

 

,

and doeth, fptaketh, Or thinketh nothing in vain.

She looks backwards, j. as into a Looking-glafs, 4. to things pad; and feeth before her, 5. as with a Perfpe&ive-glafs,7. things to come, or theEnd, 6. andfo fie perceiveth ivhat foe hath done, and -what remaineth to he dene.

She propofeth an Honeft, Profitable, and -withal, if it may he done, a Pleafant End to her Ail ions.

Haxing forefeen the End, fie looketh out Means, as a Way, 8. ,which leadeth to the End; hut fach as are certain and eajy, and fewer rather than more, lefl any t^ing Jhould hinder.She ivatchethOpponaahy,g. (ivhich having a buihy Forehead, 10. and heing bald-pated, il, and moreover, having wings, 12. doth quickly ßip aviay,) and catchet h it. .i„ ti jS ht goeth on her ivay ivarily, for fear fie fiould flumhle er go am¡/s

A

 

and fo moderateth all thing!,leß any thing too much ее done. ftevellersare made drunk, 4.they flumhle, 5.they fpue, 6.and hrahhle, 7.From Drunken nefs froceedeth Lafciviouinefs; from this, a lewd Life amongfl Whoremafters, 8. and Whores, 9.. in killing, touching, emhracing, and dancing, 10.

 

Fortitude, 1. i Fortitude, t/'/ undaunted in Adwrßty, I impavida eft in Adverlis,and a u J hold as a Lion, 2.¿e/ ns/ haughty in Profperity,leaning en her oivn Pillar, 3.c/"Conftancy; and being the fame in all things, ready to undergo both eftates иith an even mind.

She reeeiveth theßrokes e/.Misfortune •with the SHield, 4. of Sufferance: and keepeth off the Paffions, the enemies ofquietnefs, 4vith theSword, 5. a/"Valour,

 

Patience, 1. I Patient la, 1endvrtth Calamities г. !tokrat Cal»mitatts, 2.and Wrongs, 3. meekly like a Lamh, 4. as the fatherly chaftifement of God, 5.

In the mean while fie hattet h upon the Anchor of Hope, 6. {as a Ship, 7. tiffed hy •waves In the Sea) /he prayeth to God, 8. •weeping,and expeBeth the Sun, ГО. after cloudy weather, 9. fuffering evils, and hoping hetter things.

On the contrary, the impatient Perfon, 11. Koaileth, lamtnteth, rageth again ft himfelf, 11. grumhl»th like a Dog, 13. and yet doth no good i at the laß he defpaireth, and hecome!h his own murtherer, 14. Being full of ragt it äeßrtth to revenge wrings.

Men are made for one another's good; therefore let them he kind. Be thou/iveet ana' lovely in thy Countenance, i. gentle and civil in thy Behaviour and Manners, 2.affahle and truc-t'poken ivith thy Mouth, 3. ajfeBionate and candid in thy Heart, 4. So live, and Jo ßialt thou heloved; a r d there ivili he * »i/WFriendihip, {. as that of Turtle-doves, 6. hearty, gentle, andivijhing nuellrn hoth p arts, Frcivard Men are if auf id, t/ly, unplea/ant,

 

 

to he referred J"or the other party; Holding in her right Hand a Sword, ç. und a Bridie, ó. еo punißu und reßrain evil men;Beßdes, a pair of.Balances, 7. in the right fcale, 8. whereof, Deferís,and in the left, ci. Rewards heing put, are made even one vjith another, andfo good Men are in- cited to virtue, as it ivereivith Spurs, 10. In Bargains, 11.let Men deal candidly:let themf tand to their Covenants яWPromifes;let that which is given oneto keep,and that which is lent,he reßored:let no man he pillaged, 12.er hurt, 13.let every one have his очиn:thefe are the precepts efjußice. Such things as thefe are forhidden in God's 5th and7th Commandment,and difervedly puni/h'don the

Liberality, r. keepeth a mean abcut "Riches, •which fie honeßly fecket h, that fie may have fomeivhat to hejfaw c?:thi.i.i that want, 2.

She clothetii, 3., nourimeth, 4. and enricheth, 5. thefe •with a chearful Countenance, 6. and a winged Hand, 7.

She/ubmittethhersvealih,2. to herfelf, not herfelf to it, as the covetous man, 9. doth, •who hath, that he may have, and is not the Owner, hut the Keeper of his goods, and heing unjatiable, ahvays icrapeth together, ib. •with his Natis.

either •with Wealth, er a Trade and Science, ivhich mayjerive for getting a living; »hai he may he ahle to maintain a Family.

Then he chcofeth him/el/ a Maid that is Marriageahle, (or a Widow) •whom he loveth; neverthelrfs a greater Regard is to he had of Virtue,and Honefty, than ^/"Beauty or Portion.

Afterwards, he doth not hetroth her to himfelf clofelj, tut entreatethfor her, as a Woer, firß to the Father, i. and then the Mother, 2. er theGuardians, tr Kinsfolks, byfuch as help to make the match, 3.

When fie is effous'dto him, he hecometh /¿¿Bridegroom,,.).. end fie the Bride, 5. and the Con traft is made, aid an Instrument of Dowry, 6. is •written.

At the laß  the Wedding is made,  inhere they are joined together  ly the Prieft, 7» gi-ving their Hands, 8. one to
another,and Wedding-rings, 9. ihm they.ftaß •with the ivitneffes that are invited. After this they are called  Hulhand tWWife; ivhen fie is dtad\ he hecmeth * Widower.

In Confanguinity there touch a Man, i in Lineal Afcent, the Father {the Father-in-taw) 2. and the Mother (the Mother-in-law) 3-.; the Grand-father, 4.. ana the Grand-mother, 5. the Great Qrand-father, 6. ßW/^eGreatGrandmütliersj.. the great great Grandfather; 8. the great great Grandmother, 9. the great great Grandfather's Father, 1 o.thegreatgreatGrandmotheris Mother, grandfather's Grandfather, i2. thegreatgreatGrandmother's Grandmother, 13.4"hofe heyond thefe are called Anceftors, 14. In a Lineal defcent, the Son (the Son-in-law) 15. and the Daughter (the Daughter-in-law) 16. the Nephew, 17. und the Niece, 18. the Nephewis Son, 19. «»i•//¿eNephewsD aught еrs о. the Nephewis Nephew, 21. and the Nieceis Niece, 22. the Nephewis Nephewis Son, 23.the Niece's Nieceis Daughter, 24. the Nephewis Nephew's  Nephew, 25./w-NïeçeisNieceisNiece, 26. Thife heyond thefe are called Pollerity, 27. . . 27. In a Collateral Line are the Uncle hy the Father's fide, 28. and the Aunt hy the Fatheris fide, 29. the Uncle hy the Motheris fide, 30. endúit Aunt hy the Motheris fide, 31. the Brother, 32. and the Sifter, 33. the BrotherisSon, 34. the Sifteris Son, 35, and the Coufin hy the Brother and Sifter, 36.

CXXII.

The Society betwixt Pa- Societas Parentalis.

rents and Children.

Married Perfoni, (hy the hlcjßng of God J haie Ifiue, and hecome Parents.

The Father, i. hegetteth, and the Mother, 2. heareth Sons, 3. ar.d Daughters, 4. (fometimes Twins.) The Infant, 5. is •wrapped in Svvaddling-clothei, 6. it-laid in a Cradle, 7, is fuckled by the Mother ivithher Brenfts, 8. and fedtuUth Pap, 9.-.iftcrit:rrds it learneth to go by a Standing-flo&l, io.

the Miftrefs, (the good wife of the Houfe) 3 Maidens, 4* They appoint thefe their . Work, 6. end divide them their talks, 5. 'which are faithfully to he done hy them without murmuring У lofs ; for iv h ich their Wages, and Meat and Drinkis allowed them. A Seivant 'was heretofore a Slave, euer ivhom the Maßer had Jioiver of life and death. At this day the poorer fort ferve in a free, manner, heing hired for Wages,

Set vus olim er&tMancipiumy in quem Domino poteftas fuit vit

 

The History of Children, 4/7--the Sciences and Learning /"Infinite Islands float in the Seas"

JF Ptak Science Books  Post 1287    Continuing the post 1285

"Taking the Scarecrows out of Wisdoms Gardens"

This is Part 4/7 of John Comenius' great work, the first illustrated instructional to children, first written in 1676 and then translated into English in 1726--it is from this translation that all of the images (below) are taken.  This is the second of seven installments on introducing 17th and 18th century children to wide ideas, the other sections including: Part 1, Occupations; Part 2, Anatomy; Part 3, Books and Book Arts; Part 4, the Sciences; Part 5, Morals and Philosophy; Part 6, Games and the Arts; and Part 7, the Military.  

The work itself: John Amos Comenius' Orbis Senfualium Piélus: Omnium Principalium in Mundo Rerun/ &f m Vita АШопит,  translated as Pictura et Nomenclatur, the Visible World, or A Nomenclature, and Pictures of all Chief Things that are int he World, translated into English by Charles Hoof...1726.

The purpose of the book, writes the translator in the introduction of the 1726 12th edition, is:  

To entice witty children to it, that they may not conceit a torment to be in the school, but dainty/are., For it is apparent, that children (even from their infancy almost) are delighted with Pictures, and willingly please their eyes with these fights: And it will be very well worth the pains to have once brought it to pafs, that fcare-crows may be taken away out of Wisdom's Gardens..."

Even at this early stage of publishing books for children it was easily recognized that children learn better when eased into their subject with pictures.  This is not so far off the mark with the moderns, and in its own way a precursor to the Dick and Jane and Dr. Seuss books--not so much for subject matter, but for the very act of putting a book into the hands of a child and getting them comfortable wit the idea of reading.  It seems to me that this is by far the most important lesson-the actual content at tis point is secondary to the act of holding a book.  

 

into the ßadotv oftheEatih,». it is darkened, nvhich ive tall an Eclipfe, or defeil.

But when the Moon runutth hetwixt the Sua and the Earth, 3. it covtilth it -with it 1 Jbaàomi; and this toe call the Eelipfe of the Sun, hecaufc it takethfrom us the ßght of the Sun, and its light;

neither doth the Sun/br all that fuffer any thing, eut the Earth.

is 360 degrees', ("•whereof every one maketh 60 Engliih Miles) or 2 1600 Miles, and yet it is tut a prick, compared •with the World, •whereof it is the Centre. - 4"hey mea/иrе the Longitude «fit hy Climates, 1. and the Latitude hy Parallels, *•

The Ocean, 3. cempajjeth it ahout, and ßve Seas voafi it, the Mediterranean Sea, 4. the Baltick Sea, 5. the Red Sea, 6. the Perfian Sea, 7, end the Calpian Sea, 8.

ей graduu»k CCCLX. (quorum quifque facit LX. Milliaria Anglica) vel 21600 Milliarium, & tamen eft puncbm, collata cum orhe, cujusCentrum eft. - Longitudinem ejus dimetiuntur Climatihus, 1. l-atitudinem, lineis Parallelis, 2.

Occanus, 3. amhit earn Se Maria V. perfundunt, Mtditerraneum, 4. Balticum, 5. Erythraum, t Perßcum, 7. ... _ Caffium, 8.

art uninhahitahle }.

the II. Temperate ones, 10. .10.

end the Torrid one, 11.

hahitable»

Beßdes it is divided into three Continents; thh of ours, 12. 'which isfubdividedinto Europe, 13. Afia, 14. Africa, 15. America, 16. ... 16. fivhofe Inhahitants are Antipodes to us) and the South Land, 17.. .1 7. yet unkno•wn.

They that d•well under the North Pole, 18. have the days and n'gbts 6 months long.

Inßnite Iflands float in tht Seas.

The Afp, 4. in the ßelds. The Boa ^rMild fnake)5.in Houfes. The Slow-worm, 6.

is hlind.

The Li2ard, 7. mid the Salamander, 8^ (that liveth long in ßre) have fee(.

The Dragon, 9. 2 winged Serpent, killeth ivith his Breath,

The Bafiliik, 10. with his Eyes;

And the Scorpion, 11. ,ivith his poi/onous tail.

fhe Earth-worm, i. the Earth.

The Caterpillar, 2. the Plant.

The Grafs-hopper, 3. the Fruit:.

The Mite, 4. the Gern.

The Timher-worm, 5. IVood.

The Moth, 6. a garment.

Tbe Book-worm, 7. я Book.

Maggots, 8. FUß and Cheefe.

Hand-worms, the Hair.

Thefiipping Flea, 9. the Loufe, 10. ostd the ßinking Wall-loufe, (Bug) 11. hite us.

The Tick, 12. it a Bkod-fucker.

The Siik-worm, 131 makethßlk.

The Pifmiie, 14. is painful.

SVSpider, ijy •wearveth a Cob•weh, nets for ßies.

The Snail, 16. tarrietjf about her Snail-horn.

. Lumbricns, 1. Terra m.

TL rue a, 2. Plantara.

Cicada, 3. Fruges.

Curculh, 4. Frumento»

Teredo (coffis) 5. Ligna.

Tinea, 6. vefiem,

Blatta, 7. _

Lihrum.

Tir mites, 8. Camem & Cafeum.

Acari, Capillum,

Saltans Pпlex, 9. Pediculus, 10. foutens Cimex, 11. mordent поз, 'Ricinus, п. fantruifugus eft.

Bombyx, 13. facit fericum.

Formica, 14. eft lahoriofa. ч Aranea, 1J. texit Araneum, retia inufcis. .

Cochlea, \6. Icircumfert Teftarbi

The e¿/e/rKingdoms qf In Europa noftrâ

Europe, are I funt Rtgna primaria, Spain,Spain, i. France, 2. Italy, 3. England, 4. Scotland, 5, Ireland, 6. Germany, 7; Bohemia, 8. Hungary, 9. Croatia, 10. Dacia, 11. Sclavonja, 12. Greece, 13. Thrace, 14. Podolia, 15. Tartary, 16. Lithuania, 17. Poland, 18. The Netherlands, 19. Denmark, 20. Norway, 21. Swedeland, 22. Lapland, 23. Finland, 24. Lifland, ?ç, Pruffia, 26. Mufcovy, 27, W Raffia, 28. .