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This series focuses on educational theory and practice, particularly in the context of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century Europe and its colonies and America. During this period, the questions of who should be educated, to what age, to what standard and using what curriculum, were widely debated. The reform of schools and universities, the drive towards improving women's education, and the movement for free (or at least low-cost) schools for the poor were all major concerns both for governments and for society at large. The books selected for reissue in this series discuss key issues of their time, including the 'appropriate' levels of instruction for the children of the working classes, the emergence of adult education movements and proposals for the higher education of women. They also cover topics that still resonate today, such as the nature of education, the role of universities in the diffusion of knowledge and the involvement of religious groups in establishing and running schools.

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45 results in Cambridge Library Collection - Education

Page 3 of 3

Practical Education
  • Volume 1
  • Maria Edgeworth, Richard Lovell Edgeworth
  • Published online:
    05 May 2013
    Print publication:
    24 May 2012
    First published in:
    1798
  • The scientist Richard Lovell Edgeworth (1744–1817), educated at Trinity College, Dublin, and Oxford, was a Member of the Lunar Society of Birmingham, where he exchanged ideas with other scientists, including James Watt, and was known for his significant mechanical inventions. However, Edgeworth's real interest was education: in this 1788 two-volume work, written with his daughter, the poet Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849), he draws on his own experience of raising twenty children (by his four wives), from which the work derives its authority and innovative character. The work was very influential, and led to his Essays on Professional Education (1809; also reissued in this series). The two volumes discuss the theories of philosophers and educationalists, while in general arguing for the importance and formative character of early childhood experiences. Volume 1 deals with different areas of childhood education, including play, learning, and obedience and good behaviour.

An Introduction to Botany
  • In a Series of Familiar Letters, with Illustrative Engravings
  • Priscilla Wakefield
  • Published online:
    05 June 2016
    Print publication:
    11 December 2015
    First published in:
    1796
  • Coming from a prosperous London Quaker family, the author Priscilla Wakefield (1751–1832) wrote educational books for children, and one work for adults, Reflections on the Present Condition of the Female Sex (1798), also reissued in this series. This 1796 book on botany, a science which 'contributes to health of body and cheerfulness of disposition' but is difficult to study because of its Latin nomenclature and the cost of textbooks, offers a simple introduction for children through the medium of letters between sisters, as 'Felicia' shares with 'Constance' her growing understanding of plant science. Felicia's governess is a follower of Linnaeus, whose classificatory system is described as 'the one universally adopted', and by the twenty-eighth and final letter, Felicia is describing the class Cryptogamia. This illustrated account in simple language gives an insight into the level of education thought appropriate for young girls at the end of the eighteenth century.

Letters for Literary Ladies
  • To Which is Added, an Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification
  • Maria Edgeworth
  • Published online:
    05 July 2011
    Print publication:
    19 August 2010
    First published in:
    1795
  • One of the foremost authors of the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Maria Edgeworth (1768–1849) made the project of women's education the pillar of her career. Letters for Literary Ladies (1795), her first published work, takes up this question in earnest, offering a staunch defence of women's intellectual training and an impassioned warning against its neglect. The first two letters likely draw from an exchange between Richard Edgeworth, Maria's father, and his friend Thomas Day, presenting arguments for and against educating young women in the sciences and philosophy. The 'Letters of Julia and Caroline' illustrate this debate in epistolary form, dramatising both sides of the argument. The final 'Essay on the Noble Science of Self-Justification' serves as a wry critique of women's own self-deceptions. Complex and provocative, Letters for Literary Ladies demonstrates Edgeworth's early exploration of the subject that would define her career.

Reflections upon the Education of Children in Charity Schools
  • With the Outlines of a Plan of Appropriate Instruction for the Children of the Poor
  • Sarah Trimmer
  • Published online:
    28 February 2011
    Print publication:
    09 September 2010
    First published in:
    1792
  • Sarah Trimmer was an experienced Sunday and charity school educator, remembered for her popularization of images and fables in children's textbooks. Trimmer's ideas were already well respected during her lifetime and many of her books saw multiple editions, eliciting the interest of such figures as Queen Charlotte and the Dowager Countess Spencer. Her Reflections upon the Education of Children in Charity Schools, first published in 1792, was one of several books she wrote to advise her readers on how to approach the Christian education of the poor. In it, Trimmer passionately advocated for the utility of charity schools, provided that they followed a more age-appropriate and critical curriculum, which she conveniently published as separate editions. Those interested in the history of education, social history, the Society for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge, or the changing voice of female authorship will benefit from this book.

Miscellaneous Observations Relating to Education
  • More Especially as it Respects the Conduct of the Mind
  • Joseph Priestley
  • Published online:
    05 October 2014
    Print publication:
    31 October 2013
    First published in:
    1778
  • The English polymath Joseph Priestley (1733–1804) wrote on a wide range of scientific, theological and pedagogical subjects. After the appearance of his influential Rudiments of English Grammar (1761) and A Course of Lectures on the Theory of Language and Universal Grammar (1762), both of which are reissued in this series, Priestley produced in 1765 his Essay on a Course of Liberal Education, which is included and expanded on in this 1778 publication. Here he explains the reasons behind his decision to guide the curriculum at Warrington Academy towards a greater focus on subjects with a more direct application to 'civil and active life'. He offers more general instruction on the cultivation of young men in various spheres, notably through foreign travel and developing 'knowledge of the world'. Priestley ends by outlining a suggested course of lectures on the history and laws of England.

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