MARCET, Jane.

£825 · Offered by Peter Harrington · No longer available

Stories for young Children. First edition of one of Marcet's popular educational stories, this focused on house-building and mining. Marcet (1769-1858) was one of the earliest authors of popular scientific books. Her most successful work was Conversations on Political Economy (1816) which ran to many editions and exerted considerable influence on the economic theory of the mid-19th century by helping to form the first impressions of young economists. She was also celebrated for her works for children, of which the present is an excellent example. These were "very well received, including Mary's Grammar (1835), which became a classic text. They include many stories of the family life of a boy named Willy and his sisters. Willy's curiosity leads him to investigate everything from the building of a new house to the working of a coalmine. In these books working men are polite but not deferential, confident, and proud of their skills; children are boundlessly curious and not overly obedient; parents are kind, tolerant, and endlessly willing to support their children's quest for information" (ODNB).

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