Children's books published by William Darton and his sons : a catalogue of an exhibition at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, April-June, 1992: a machine-readable transcription

A page number is given for each illustration, followed by the page number of the illustrated item in parentheses. Illustrated items are indicated in the text by an ornament [❧]. Color illustrations are placed at intervals within the catalogue. Illustrations are shown actual size.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The generosity of Lawrence Darton, well-known among scholars working with rare children's books, created many of my opportunities for learning about William Darton and his sons. Those opportunities, in turn, helped to create our friendship, and many a collaborative conversation. I cannot thank him and his wife Elizabeth adequately. The completion of his definitive study of Darton publishing will open doors onto a past that can only be glimpsed in this exhibition. Ruth Adomeit allowed me to work in her splendid miniature collection, and to hear some of the stories about its formation, on unforgettable occasions. She is very much a presence in this exhibition.

For information and photocopies of Darton materials, I am grateful to Margaret Crawford Maloney, James Davis, Mark Dimunation, and Joann Chasen, with very special thanks to Pamela K. Harer. For loans of unpublished research materials, I wish to thank Lawrence Darton, Sean Shesgreen, and Felix de Marez Oyens, who kindly sent me two chapters from Be Merry & Wise: The Early Development of English Children's Books, the forthcoming catalogue of the exhibition at the Pierpont Morgan Library, written with Brian Alderson. For loans of books and articles and for advice, I am indebted to many friends, especially Phyllis Guskin, Mary Gaither, David Staines, Steven Davidson, Erlene Stetson, Mal Zirker, Kenneth Johnston, Brian Powell, John Eakin, Sybil S. Eakin, Susan Gubar, Anthony Shipps, Marion Gottfried, and Benjamin David.

I wish to thank Indiana University and the staff of the Lilly Library, with special gratitude for the kindness of Erla P. Heyns, Sue Presnell, Rebecca Cape, Joel Silver, and my friends at the Reading Room desk. Jim Canary, Kim Koons, and Sandy Wassenmiller of the conservation department, with the help of Steve Stroup, worked creatively to prepare the materials. I always count on Helen Walsh to bring visitors into happy relation with an exhibition. I learned a lot about the art of bookmaking from Sylvia Payne, Garry Roadruck, and Diane Castellan of the Indiana University Office of Publications, Kevin Hutchison of Media and Teaching Resources, and Mark Infalt of Design Printing of Indianapolis, imaginative and generous people.

Diana Hawes and Barbara Halporn, past and present presidents of the Friends of the Lilly Library, and loyal friends, have supported my projects over months and years. Judy Gettelfinger, Karlene Huntley, Rob Fulk, Joan Zirker, Helen Phillips, Paul Strohm, Leslie Foster, and Frank Anechiarico helped at critical moments, and Al David, simply, made it possible. In the end, growing up in the tiny southern Indiana village of Byrnville, which still retained so many of the elements of the world of Little Truths Better Than Great Fables, was the best preparation of all.

A HISTORICAL CALENDAR

Successive imprints of the firms are shown in brackets. Selected publications written by William Darton the elder are marked with an asterisk (*). Publications that may have been written by him, but that cannot be with certainty ascribed to him, are marked with a dagger (†).

	William Darton, Sr. (1755-1819) and the firm at Gracechurch Street	William Darton, Jr. (1781-1854) and the firm at Holborn Hill
1755	Born at Tottenham, near London,the son of John Darton, innkeeper.
1769	Apprenticed for seven years to Thomas Dent, engraver, of Ball Alley, Lombard Street, City of London.
1774	His father accidentally drowned (place and circumstance unknown).
1775	Finished apprenticeship as engraver nine months before expiry of his term, "his master being in fault." ca. 1775 Returned to Tottenham, where he ran a general store or shop.
1777	Joined the Society of Friends.
1778	Married Hannah Pace, Quaker, of Spitalfields, London.
1781		William, eldest son of William Darton, Sr., born at Tottenham.
1787	[W. Darton and Co.] Set up as engraver, stationer, and printer in White Lion Alley, Birchin Lane, City of London. From there published Little Truths better than Great Fables * and (jointly with Carington Bowles and C. Dilly) a jigsaw puzzle, Engravings for teaching the elements of English history and chronology.
1788	Took as his first apprentice William Belch (ca. 1773-1847), who from ca. 1807 was in partnership with Edward Langley and also published on his own. Darton moved his business to 55 Gracechurch Street, City of London.	Sent to the Friends' School, Clerkenwell, London.
1789		Withdrawn from school at Clerkenwell, his father "having occasion for his assistance in his business and an opportunity of educating him himself."
1790	ca. 1790 Inaugurated the children's periodical, The Minor's Pocket Book.
1791	[Darton and Harvey] Formed partnership with Joseph Harvey (1764-1841), a Quaker printer, son of a mastmaker of Rotherhithe, London. Published The Visible World by Comenius.	Sent to Ackworth (Quaker) School, Yorkshire.
1792	Joseph Harvey took his younger brother James (1778-1854) as a printing apprentice. Darton and Harvey bought from John Newbery's descendants the copyright to 24 ex-Newbery/Carnan/Power sixpenny children's books.
1793	Began republishing some of these, starting with The History of Goody Two Shoes, using the old Newbery/Carnan blocks.	His younger brother Thomas (1783- ?) joined him at Ackworth School.
1794		The two brothers left Ackworth.
	[ page 8 ]
	William Darton, Sr. (1755-1819) and the firm at Gracechurch Street	William Darton, Jr. (1781-1854) and the firm at Holborn Hill
1795	Lessons for Youth, selected for the use of Ackworth and other schools .	William apprenticed to his father for seven years.
1796	Trifles for Children. Parts I and II.*
1797	A Present for a Little Girl.*
1798	A Present for a Little Boy; Trifles for Children. Part III.	Thomas apprenticed to his father for seven years.
1799	Darton's third son Samuel (1785-1840) apprenticed to his father for seven years after leaving Ackworth School the previous year. In compliance with the law, Darton, with Joseph Harvey and James Swan, registered four presses at Jerusalem Court, a few doors from 55 Gracechurch Street. Swan was in business on his own by 1802. Darton and Harvey's printing offices were later at Talbot Court adjoining 55 Gracechurch Street and at Star Court, Eastcheap.
1800	The Rational Exhibition .*	Engraved map of the world dated 1800 signed "W. Darton Jun." in fifth edition of Geography and History, selected by a lady, 1803 (C. Law, Darton and Harvey, and others).
1801	The Infant's Own Book-case † ; The First [Second] [Third] Chapter of Accidents and Remarkable Events.*
1802		William's apprenticeship completed.
1803	Improvements in Education by Joseph Lancaster (published jointly with J. Matthews and W. Hatchard).
1804	Original Poems, for Infant Minds [Vol. I]. Darton appointed member of the London Committee of Ackworth School.	[William Darton, Jun.] William set up on his own at 40 Holborn Hill in premises occupied until 1803 by John Cumming, bookseller. An imprint on a watchcase cover depicting Ackworth School reads: "London. Published by W. Darton Junr. Engraver & Printer, 58 Holborn Hill Decr. 1st. 1803"; the "58" appears to be an alteration on the plate, perhaps changed from "40," suggesting that he may have taken over Cumming's premises in late 1803. From No. 40 in 1804 he published an adult tract concerning a Quaker controversy, A Few Observations tending to expose the unfairness of some censure on the character of David Sands.
1805	Original Poems, for Infant Minds , Vol. II. James Harvey, Joseph's brother, became a partner in the printing business, which from then until 1809 was usually styled "W. Darton, and J. and J. Harvey." He was not a partner in the publishing house.	Franklin's Way to Wealth; or, 'Poor Richard improved.' Thomas's apprenticeship completed.
1806	Rhymes for the Nursery .	Death and Burial of Cock Robin ; The Fakenham Ghost, a true tale , by R. Bloomfield. London Cries. (jointly with Darton and Harvey) William entered into partnership with his brother Thomas. [W. and T. Darton] Portraits of Curious Characters in London; ca. 1806, The World Turned Upside Down.
1807		Old Friends in New Dress: or Familiar Fables in Verse. (jointly with Darton and Harvey) Thomas disowned by the Society of Friends for marrying "out" (marrying "one not in profession with Friends").
	[ page 9 ]
	William Darton, Sr. (1755-1819) and the firm at Gracechurch Street	William Darton, Jr. (1781-1854) and the firm at Holborn Hill
1808	Darton recorded as one of 49 members of the Board of Governors of the Royal Jennerian Society for the Extermination of Smallpox (Holden's Triennial Directory).	From 40 Holborn Hill William and Thomas published The Dun Cow; an hyper-satirical dialogue, in verse (? by Walter Savage Landor, a reply to Guy's Porridge Pot, a satire on Dr. Samuel Parr). William and Thomas moved to 58 Holborn Hill.
1809		With Samuel Algar, William and Thomas registered two presses at 19 Charles Street (now Greville Street), Hatton Garden.
1810	[Darton, Harvey, and Darton] William Darton's son Samuel became a partner in the publishing firm. Darton ceased to live at 55 Gracechurch Street and moved to Plaistow, a village a few miles east of the city. There, though still a partner in the publishing and printing businesses, he had a small farm.
1811		[William Darton, Jun.] The partnership between William and Thomas was dissolved. Thomas set up on his own, mainly as an engraver, at 25 Great Surrey Street, London.
1819	[Harvey and Darton] Death of William Darton, Sr.; Joseph Harvey was now senior partner.	[William Darton] On the death of his father, William was no longer styled "Junior."
1821	Samuel Darton became a member of the London Committee of Ackworth School.
1823		William's son, John Maw Darton (1809-1881), was bound apprentice to his father for seven years.
1825		For a few years around 1825, William gave the title "Repertory of Genius" to his business at 58 Holborn Hill.
1830	Joseph Rickerby, one of Harvey and Darton's printers, set up on his own in Sherbourn Lane where he continued to print many of its publications.	[William Darton and Son] On completing his apprenticeship John Maw Darton was taken into partnership by his father.
1833	[Darton and Harvey] Joseph Harvey retired in favor of his son Robert (1805-1867). Samuel Darton now senior partner.
1834	Thomas Gates Darton (1810-1887), Samuel's son, married the daughter of Maria Hack (1777-1844), one of the firm's principal authors of children's books.
1836		[Darton and Clark] William retired from the business. His son John took as partner Samuel Clark (1810-1875), Quaker, son of a basketmaker of Southampton. Clark wrote for the firm under the pseudonyms "The Rev. T. Wilson," "Peter Parley," "Uncle John," "Reuben Ramble," and "Uncle Benjamin."
1838	[Harvey and Darton] Samuel Darton retired. Thomas Gates Darton became junior partner, with Robert Harvey as senior partner.	Both John Maw Darton and Samuel Clark resigned from the Society of Friends. John married Samuel Clark's sister Rebecca.
1839		Samuel Clark matriculated at Magdalen Hall, Oxford, continuing meanwhile in the publishing business.
1840	Death of Samuel Darton. Thomas Gates Darton appointed a member of the London Committee of Ackworth School.
1841	Thomas Gates Darton left the firm, which continued as Harvey and Darton until 1846.
	[ page 10 ]
	William Darton, Sr. (1755-1819) and the firm at Gracechurch Street	William Darton, Jr. (1781-1854) and the firm at Holborn Hill
1843	Ann Darton (1788-1869), Samuel's widow, opened a toy and fancy goods shop at the Crosby Hall Repository, 33 Bishopsgate, City of London. From this address she issued two or three publications, includingThe Brighton Knitting Book (jointly with a Brighton bookseller, 1846) and On a Consignment of Shells, 1852.	Partnership between Darton and Clark officially dissolved, but imprint continued in use until 1845 and occasionally beyond. (Clark graduated and was ordained in 1846; for his subsequent career in education and the church, see the Dictionary of National Biography).
1845		[Darton and Co.] John Maw Darton on his own.
1846	The Gracechurch Street business sold to Robert Yorke Clarke.
1849		The title "Original Infant School Depot and Juvenile Library" sometimes used to describe the business at about this time.
1854		Death of William Darton the younger.
1862		[Darton and Hodge] John entered into partnership with Frederick Hedge.
1863		The partnership between Darton and Hodge dissolved, but imprint continued in use till 1866, possibly with Hodge on his own.
1865		With the impending demolition of the Holborn Hill premises to make way for the new Holborn Viaduct, Darton and Hodge imprints show the double address: 58 Holborn Hill and 175 Strand.
1866		[Darton and Co., 42 Paternoster Row] Darton and Hodge apparently ceased to trade. In the same year John resumed business on his own at a new address.
1876		John Maw Darton ceased to trade about 1876 or earlier.

A SURVEY OF IMPRINTS

Children's books published by William Darton and his sons, Samuel of Gracechurch Street and William and Thomas of Holborn Hill, are the focus of this exhibition, which concentrates on the period from William Darton's first published book in 1787 to the late 1830s, when his sons Samuel of Gracechurch Street and William of Holborn Hill retired from their respective businesses. The brief tenure of William Darton's grandson Thomas Gates Darton at the Gracechurch Street firm and the several decades of activity of his grandson John Maw Darton of the Holborn Hill business are noted only in passing; the Darton firms in the Victorian era must form another study. During the period examined here, both father and sons were members of the Society of Friends, a religious and cultural group that played a leading role in the cause of abolition, the reform of institutional care of the mentally ill and prison reform, and the movement for universal literacy. The English Friends at the turn of the nineteenth century were a prospering homogeneously middle class culture. Their traditionally intense concentration on the rearing of children allied them with the aspirations of the larger middle class, as those aspirations expressed themselves in the ideal of the domesticated sentimental family. Works published by William Darton and his sons not only shared in the expression of this ideal, but helped to create it.

William Darton's influence on the flourishing children's book trade of the early nineteenth century stretched across generations. Between 1795 and 1806, three sons were apprenticed to him. Although it is seldom possible to distinguish the work of individual apprentices in looking at Darton imprints of this early period, a viewer should think of a workshop in which the father and a number of apprentices worked together, including at different times William the younger, Thomas, and Samuel Darton; some publications may include work by any or all of them. Engraving work was also sent out; by 1800, the younger members of the Taylor family in Essex, third generation engravers, "were now so far known to Darton and Harvey as to be frequently employed on small plates for their juvenile works," Ann Taylor Gilbert writes in her Autobiography. Ann, Jane, and their brother Isaac Taylor have left vivid accounts of their years of engraving alongside their father. The interplay of William Darton and his sons in these apprentice years must have been equally complex, and the complexity would have increased as each son began to make his own way in the book trade. An interplay that may not be recovered in anecdote may perhaps be experienced by viewers of the many dozens of their publications in this exhibition.

The Elisabeth Ball Collection provided most of the books in this exhibition, with additions from the Virginia Warren Collection of Old London Street Cries. In the form of title entries in this catalogue I have pleased myself. Initial capitalization of words and punctuation are given as on title pages; absence of punctuation is indicated by spacing; epigraphs are omitted; printers are given in brackets. Bindings are briefly noted if original; an original binding preserved within a collector's binding is described as "bound in."

Gracechurch Street

1787-1791	W. Darton and Co.	William Darton
1791-1810	Darton and Harvey	William Darton and Joseph Harvey
1810-1819	Darton, Harvey, and Darton	William Darton, Joseph Harvey, and William Darton's son, Samuel
1819-1833	Harvey and Darton	Joseph Harvey and Samuel Darton
1833-1838	Darton and Harvey	Samuel Darton and Joseph Harvey's son, Robert
1838-1846	Harvey and Darton	Robert Harvey and Samuel Darton's son, Thomas Gates Darton; from 1841 Robert Harvey alone

[ page 12 ]

1.

Jacob Nicholson, for Jupiter Nicholson, Job Albert, and Thomas Pritchet. Broadside headed "Slavery." Printed and sold by Darton and Harvey, Gracechurch-street. Price One Penny. [1797].

Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

Among the earliest publications with the Darton and Harvey imprint were antislavery publications, growing out of the intense involvement of the Society of Friends in the great antislavery agitation of the late 1780s. This petition by freemen protesting a North Carolina law allowing the re-enslavement of manumitted persons was reprinted from a Philadelphia newspaper.

2.

Driving a Cart. Driving a Hog. Driving of Sheep. Driving a Coach. Driving an Ass. Printed by & for W. Darton & J. Harvey London. March 20th. 1801.

Copper-engraved picture sheet, uncolored. Loaned by the Osborne Collection of Early Children's Books, Toronto Public Library.

An apprentice has left his mark. The initials "R G" on the sack in the cart at the top of the sheet identify Richard Golland, apprenticed to Darton, 1794-1801, and within two weeks of the end of his term when this sheet was engraved. The initials "J H" on the second sack are probably a compliment to the printer, Joseph Harvey; the "D & H" would be an advertisement for the firm. This picture sheet was among twenty-four Darton and Harvey picture sheets dated 1799-1805 published in A Book Of Prints, For Children, To Colour, Or Draw From [1805], an early coloring book.

3.

Johnny Gilpin. Printed & Sold by W. Belch. Newington Butts. London. [ca. 1803].

Lilly Library call number: PR3382 .J6 J6

William Belch was Darton's first apprentice, 1788-1795. He shared the imprint with Darton and Harvey of the individual engravings and the collected volumes of John Church's A Cabinet of Quadrupeds, 1795-1805, which employed the skills of the noted artist, Julius Ibbetson. Belch established a successful business as a children's book publisher; "Johnny Gilpin," a halfpenny lottery sheet, carries one of his earliest imprints. A pencilled note on the backing sheet claims that it was "etched by George Cruikshank when a boy of 13, 1803-4."

4.

London, Westminster, And Southwark; with the West & East India Docks, Isle Of Dogs &c. Corrected to the present time. Published By Darton & Harvey. Gracechurch Street. Price One Shilling & Sixpence. 1805.

Hand-colored engraved panels on folded linen.

Maps: Wall sh/England/London/London-St. Maps

Both Gracechurch Street and Holborn Hill lie within the boundary of the City of London, which is indicated in red. Among the elder William Darton's early works as an engraver was a set of maps in the third edition of William Guthrie's New System of Modern Geography, 1786.

5.

[William Darton]. The Infant's Museum Or Book Of Pictures. London: Printed & Sold by Darton, Harvey, & Darton, 55, Gracechurch Street. 1818. Price 6d.

Buff printed and decorated wrappers. The Virginia Warren Collection of Old London Street Cries.

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .I43 copy 1

[William Darton] . The Infant's Museum Or Book Of Pictures. London: Printed & Sold By Darton, Harvey, & Darton, 55, Gracechurch Street. 1818.

Pink printed and decorated wrappers with new imprint, "Published By Harvey and Darton."

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .I43 copy 2

This picture book, with a signpost "To Plaistow," the village to which William Darton had removed, may be his last work before his death in 1819; the second copy was issued afterwards in wrappers with the firm's new imprint, "Harvey and Darton."

6.

Nursery Lessons, In Words of One Syllable. Price Sixpence, Coloured. London: Published By Harvey And Darton, Gracechurch Street. 1830.

Lavender printed and decorated wrappers.

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .N974 1830

Nursery Lessons, In Words Of One Syllable. Price Sixpence, Coloured. London: Published By Darton And Harvey, Gracechurch Street. 1838.

Pink printed and decorated wrappers.

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .N974 1838

[ page 13 ]

Two copies of Nursery Lessons show the change of imprint from Harvey and Darton, when Joseph Harvey continued as senior partner and Samuel Darton as junior, to the imprint Darton and Harvey, from 1833 to 1838, when Samuel became senior partner with Robert Harvey as junior.

7.

Country Scenes, In Easy Lessons For Children. London: Harvey And Darton, Gracechurch Street. 1839.

Buff printed and decorated wrappers.

Lilly Library call number: S519 .C855 1839

Samuel Darton's son, Thomas Gates Darton, was now junior partner until 1841, after which Robert Harvey, keeping the imprint Harvey and Darton, continued alone until the firm's closing in 1846.

Holborn Hill

1804-1806	W. Darton Jun.	William Darton, Jr.
1806-1811	W. and T. Darton	William Darton, Jr., and his brother Thomas
1811-1819	W. Darton Jun.	William Darton, Jr.
1819-1830	William Darton	William Darton, after his father's death
1830-1836	William Darton and Son	William and his son, John Maw Darton
1836-1845	Darton and Clark	John Darton and Samuel Clark
1845-1862	Darton and Co.	John Darton alone
1862-1866	Darton and Hodge	John Darton and Frederick Hodge

8.

Watchcase covers with early Holborn Hill imprints, printed on silk and hand colored.

Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

The World. London: by W. Darton, Junr. No.40 Holborn Hill.

Ackworth School. London. Published by W. Darton Junr. Engraver & Printer, 58 Holborn Hill Decr. 1st. 1803.

A Map of Europe. Published by W. Darton Junr. Engraver 58 Holborn Hill, London [n.d.]

Salisbury. Published Aug. 14 by W & T Darton, London. [year omitted]

A W. and T. Darton booklist in London Cries, 1806, advertises "Watch Papers curiously cut out with neat painted prints in the centre, 6d. each. Another sort very highly finished in the colouring, price 6d. also the same on rich white satin, at 1s each."

9.

Trades adapted to the Convenience & Happiness of Society. London: Printed and Published August 12th 1808 by W & T Darton 58 Holborn Hill.

Hand-colored unused writing sheet. The Virginia Warren Collection.

Lilly Library: Warren, V. mss.

"He that hath a calling hath an Estate," this writing sheet announces. Pictured around the open space in which a child would show off penmanship are the glassblower, the potter, the builder, the papermaker, the weaver, the cabinetmaker, bleaching, the brickmaker, ship building, the shoemaker, painting, and a coal mine.

10.

Rural Scenes. London. Published April 8th 1812. by Thomas Darton 25 Great Surry [sic] Street.

Uncolored picture sheet with copper-engraved scenes of three rural houses and a country inn. Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

This is a scarce example of Thomas Darton's work after his separation from the Society of Friends and the ending of his partnership with his brother. He set up as an engraver, a reminder that many of the delightful engravings with the W. and T. Darton imprint may have been his work.

11.

Mary Belson Elliott. Peggy And Her Mammy. By Mary Elliott, (late Belson,) Author Of "Industry And Idleness," &c. London: William Darton, Jun., Holborn-Hill. 1819. [Printed By William Darton, Jun. 58, Holborn-Hill].

Yellow printed and decorated wrappers.

Lilly Library call number: PR4699 .E53 P37 1819

The imprint "William Darton, Jun." appeared on many Mary Belson books between 1811 and 1819, apparently the year of her marriage.

[ page 14 ]

12.

An Entire New Plan of The Cities of London & Westminster, & Borough Of Southwark; The East & West India Docks, Regents Park, New Bridges, &c. &c. with the whole of the New Improvements of the present time. London: Published Aug. 9th. 1827, by Will.m Darton; 58 Holborn Hill. 6th Edition.

Hand-colored engraved panels on folded linen with cover title "Alexander's Stranger's Guide."

Maps: Wall sh/England/London/London-St. Maps

Colors indicate the boundaries of the City of London, City of Westminster, and the Borough of Southwark, along with Rules of the Kings Bench and Fleet Prisons; public buildings, churches, chapels and turnpikes are accented by shading and "Intended improvements" are indicated in yellow. An advertising label on the back of the map reads:

The most approved MAPS, PLANS, and CHARTS, of every description, from the best authorities, constantly on sale, at William Darton's Map, Print, and Chart Warehouse. 58, Holborn Hill, London.

13.

Hand-colored copper engraving of the exterior of 58 Holborn Hill. London: William Darton, 58, Holborn Hill, 1822: where may be had Maps and Prints Wholesale.

Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

14.

Life of Moses [London: William Darton And Son. ca. 1835].

Lilly Library call number: BS580 .M6 L72

[Life of Jesus Christ. London: William Darton And Son. ca. 1835].

Lilly Library call number: BT302 .L72

Individual cards from two sets of engraved hand-colored Bible story cards depict scenes from the lives of Moses and Jesus. Two sons of William Darton the younger were bound apprentice to their father at Holborn Hill. John Maw Darton joined the firm at the end of his term in 1830. The second son, William, died in 1834, a year before completing his apprenticeship.

15.

[Samuel Clark]. The World And Its Inhabitants. London Darton & Clark Holborn Hill. [ca. 1845] [Gregory, Collins and Reynolds, 108, Hatton Garden].

Color illustrated wrappers.

Lilly Library call number: GT85 .G65 W9 1844

On the back cover an advertisement lists The World And Its Inhabitants; Or Travels of Reuben Ramble as part of a series: "Pictorial Instruction for Young Children. Foolscap Quarto, sewed in neat wrappers, each containing Eight large Coloured Plates, with the Letterpress in bold type." The illustrations are lithographs. "Reuben Ramble" was a pseudonym of Samuel Clark, an imaginative imitator of Samuel Goodrich, the original "Peter Parley." As partner in the Holborn Hill firm, John Darton oversaw the pirated publication of many Goodrich works. In his Recollections, Goodrich prints a letter he had written to John Darton, in which Goodrich threatened to expose the Darton piracies in the London Times:

You replied, "I will give you fifty pounds to do it." "How so?" said I. "Because you will sell my books without the trouble of my advertising them," was your answer. "But it will ruin your character," I added. "Poh!" said you; "London is too big for that."

16.

Jack the Giant-Killer. London Darton & Co., Holborn Hill [ca. 1860].

White printed and illustrated wrappers mounted on cloth, with list of twenty-two "Darton's Indestructible Elementary Children's Books" on back cover.

Lilly Library call number: PZ8 .J13 1860

17.

Poor Cock Robin. London: Darton & Hodge, Holborn Hill. [ca. 1862].

Printed and illustrated yellow wrappers, with text of "Death and Burial of Poor Cock Robin" printed on back cover.

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .C66 1862

The toy book trade, which enlivened the last years of the Holborn Hill business, may also have contributed to its demise, because of the large print orders required to make toy books profitable.

[ page 15 ]

Little Truths

It has been observed by some authors, that the minds of children are as white paper, from which erroneous impressions are difficult to erase; and the learned ADDISON compares them to marble in the quarry, capable of being formed and squared by a gradual process, previous to its being made useful or polished: in this view doth the Author of the following Little Truths behold the minds of infants.

William Darton, Little Truths Better Than Great Fables

John Locke concludes Some Thoughts Concerning Education by explaining that his remarks were "designed for a Gentleman's Son, who being then very little, I considered only as white Paper, or Wax, to be moulded and fashioned as one pleases." It is noteworthy that while Locke was concerned first with molding and imprinting, Darton thinks of the difficulty of erasing. Little Truths was marketed not for the little sons of gentlemen, but for the growing numbers of parents of the trading classes who, like William Darton himself, could pay sixpence and now cared that their children should have books to read. It is a slight book, very winning in tone; nevertheless, the aspects of contemporary thought that would most affect the development of English children's books converge in its brief introduction. The allusions to Locke and to Joseph Addison probably come from some intermediate source—magazines and miscellanies seem to have constituted much of William Darton's reading. The combination of these with the colorful and homely anecdote that justifies his little book of "proper information" strikes the characteristic William Darton note:

That all who read these in their youth, may avoid the familiar mistake of a person, reputed sensible in many things, who, upon seeing the bloom on a black plumb in a garden, exclaimed, "I never knew till now where powder blue came from!"

The world of Little Truths is the marvelous everyday, where the commonplace is charged with wonder; that was the world, evidently, of William Darton.

17.

[William Darton]. Little Truths Better Than Great Fables: In Variety of Instruction for Children from Four to Eight Years Old. London: Printed for, and Sold by, William Darton, White-Lion-Alley, Birchin-Lane, Cornhill. M DCC LXXXVII. [Price Sixpence.]

Marbled wrappers, printed label on front cover. Loaned by the Pierpont Morgan Library.

This exceedingly rare copy of the first edition of William Darton's first book is part of the Elisabeth Ball Collection of the Pierpont Morgan Library. Lawrence Darton has suggested that Little Truths may have been written for William Darton's own family; its rural walk would represent scenes common to their experience when the family lived away from the din of London in the quiet village of Tottenham, where Darton had set up as a grocer.

18.

[William Darton]. Little Truths, For The Instruction Of Children. Vol. I [II]. London: Printed And Sold By Darton And Harvey, Gracechurch-Street. 1802. Price Sixpence.

Marbled boards with printed label.

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .D22 L77 1802

William Darton published a second volume in 1788, Little Truths Containing Information on Divers Subjects. In 1800 both volumes were published under the newer title, abandoning the slight on "great fables." The antislavery passage in the second volume was expanded in 1800 to include references to the poetry of Phillis Wheatley and the letters of Ignatius Sancho—surely the very earliest mention of these black writers in a children's book. The children in the dialogue notice the oddity of saying Columbus "discovered" a country where people already lived.

[ page 16 ]

19.

[William Darton]. Little Truths Better Than Great Fables: Containing Information on divers Subjects, for the Instruction of Children. Volume I. Illustrated With Copper-Plates. Philadelphia: Printed For, And Sold By, J. and J. Crukshank, No. 87, High-Street. 1800.

Blue illustrated wrappers.

Lilly Library call number: PZ6 .D22 L77 1800

Lawrence Darton has noted that in the English first edition the dog Prince is ordered to "let them goslings alone!" Subsequent English editions read "those goslings." The reading "them goslings" in this edition confirms that it derives from the first edition. Joseph Crukshank, a Quaker publisher committed to the social causes of the Society, and the publisher of works by Woolman, Benezet, Benjamin Banneker, and Phillis Wheatley, had first published Little Truths in 1789; a decade earlier he had published Anthony Benezet's A First Book for Children. While only a third English edition was appearing by 1790, the book was so popular in the United States that in 1794 the Boston publisher Samuel Hall was enthusiastically advertising a sixth American edition "with many alterations and additions."

20.

Engravings for Teaching The Elements Of English History And Chronology, after the manner of Dissected Maps for Teaching Geography. Published as the Act directs July 1.st 1787 by Carington Bowles, St. Paul's Church Yard. C. Dilly, Poultry, & W. Darton, Birchin Lane, London.

Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

One of the earliest historical jigsaw puzzles bears a Darton imprint from Birchin Lane in 1787, and a Darton engraving. The handsome puzzle is signed "John Hewlett Invenit." and "W. Darton sculp."

Newbery

"Goody Two Shoes" is almost out of print. Mrs. Barbauld's stuff has banished all the old classics of the nursery; & the Shopman at Newbery's hardly deigned to reach them off an old exploded corner of a shelf, when Mary ask'd for them.

Charles Lamb, in a letter to Samuel Coleridge, 1802

Lamb was wrong about "Goody Two Shoes"—Mary Lamb had simply gone to the wrong bookseller. Since 1793 the heroine of the first novel written especially for children had been appearing "Newly Dressed" in Darton and Harvey editions. Lawrence Darton has decoded a manuscript book in his possession, in William Darton's handwriting, probably made up for his private use in 1818 or 1819, when he was living at Plaistow, where he would have had limited access to the firm's official records. In it, William Darton records the purchase of a lot of twenty-four Newbery-Carnan-Power "sixpenny books" bought from the descendants of John Newbery at a sale at the Horn Tavern in London, April 19, 1792: "The whole of the above twenty four Sorts £105." Among them is "Goody Two Shoes."

It is instructive to set this Newbery classic of 1765 beside a Darton and Harvey classic of 1804, Original Poems, For Infant Minds. The earlier book is about rising: an orphan girl, thrown upon the parish for relief, by the strength of her character, common sense, and perseverance, rises through society to become lady of the manor. In the crisis years after the French Revolution, it was this very fantasy of rising that was most under attack by middle class writers for children, more feared than Isaac Watts's "Fairies and Bugbears in the Dark." The frontispiece to the first volume of Original Poems, For Infant Minds brings together the orphan girl and the coach, but the static scene is arranged as instructive spectacle for the third figure, little Ann, the middle class observer, who is being taught to position herself between the selfish aristocracy and the hapless poor. The lesson throughout Original Poems, For Infant Minds is the acceptance of class limitations.

21.

The Following Children's Books Are Printed By Francis Power (Grandson to the late Mr. J. Newbery,) & Co. No. 65, near the Bar, in St. Paul's Church-Yard, London. And sold by Messrs. Champante and Whitrow, No. 2. Jewry-street, Aldgate. [London: F. Power, ca. 1790].

Broadside advertisement.

Lilly Library call number: Z1036 .A24 F82 1790

[ page 17 ]

Newbery's grandson Francis Power, publisher and bookseller briefly up to around 1792, lists 83 titles in this advertisement, including many of the old Newbery-Carnan titles purchased by Darton and Harvey. Thomas Carnan had died intestate in 1788.

22.

[William Darton]. Manuscript book, listing copyrights of Darton and Harvey, marked "Trade" on spine [ca. 1818].

Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

Manuscript statement signed by William Darton's sons William, Thomas, and Samuel, dated "12 mo 30. 1819."

Loaned by Mr. Lawrence Darton.

Writing a few months after William Darton's death, the three sons state that their father's calculations (in papers found in the manuscript trade book), which seem to have made him pessimistic about the future of the business, were in error.

23.

The History Of Little Goody Two-Shoes; Otherwise called, Mrs. Margery Two-Shoes. With The Means by w

Lilly Library Publications Online

Children's books published by William Darton and his sons : a catalogue of an exhibition at the Lilly Library, Indiana University, April-June, 1992: a machine-readable transcription