Reading Lessons from the Eighteenth Century Mothers, Children and Texts

Covers the history of reading and children's literature in the eighteenth century. Drawing upon the Jane Johnson (1706-1759) archives in the Bodleian Library, Oxford and the Lilly Library, University of Indiana, it is able to document the typical reading practices of an upper middle class family in this period. More particularly, it draws on these unique collections to throw light on a series of questions currently preoccupying scholars in the fields of the history of reading, the history of children's literature, and the history of women. At the same time, the human presence of Jane Johnson and her children gives this book a wide appeal to non-specialist readers through its thorough use of the Johnson archives.