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This book makes a significant contribution to 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 in unmatched detail 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 vivid human
presence of Jane Johnson and her children gives this book a wide appeal to
non-specialist readers and will be the first publication to make thorough use of the Johnson archives. Although the book is academic, theoretical and critical works, it is written in a jargon-free manner
which is accessible to any intelligent reader.
Evelyn Arizpe is a Research Fellow at the Faculty of Education, University of Glasgow.
Morag Styles is a Reader in Children's Literature at the Faculty of Education, University of Cambridge, and a Fellow of Homerton College.
“Jane Johnson is a clear beacon shining in the murky uncertainties of eighteenth-century domestic history. In this vivid and engaging exploration of her family and its intimate friends, Evelyn Arizpe and Morag Styles have brought to life rural middle-class England in the eighteenth century. But at the centre of the narrative is Jane Johnson herself, a woman of clarity and definition, firm in her convictions, rooted in the realities of her day.”
Victor Watson, Editor of The Cambridge Guide to Children's Books in English
"Being with Jane Johnson has been a privilege and a pleasure … the finely woven complexity of topics and the various strands: women's work, reading, history, and childhood … has captured all my reading attention for this entire week. Essential for social historians of childhood and reading teachers."
Margaret Meek Spencer, Reader Emeritus, University of London, Institute of Education
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Foreword
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Victor
Watson
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i
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Prologue
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A
Story about a Story... Morag Styles
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v
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Introduction
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Maternal
Pedagogy and Histories of Reading
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1
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Chapter
1
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Family
Fictions: in the
footsteps of the Johnsons
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17
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Chapter
2
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The
Changing World of Books and Reading in the Eighteenth Century
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49
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Chapter
3
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Reading
Lessons from an Eighteenth-Century Nursery
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69
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Chapter
4
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A
Mother’s Story: Moral Texts and ‘Pretty’ Readers
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97
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Chapter
5
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Women
as Readers: Jane Johnson’s Commonplace Book
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117
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Chapter
6
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Reading
the World of Adults: the
letters and journals of
Robert and Barbara Johnson
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137
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Chapter
7
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Child’s
Play for Private and Public Life
Shirley Brice Heath
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179
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Appendix
i
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Johnson
Family Tree
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208
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Appendix
ii
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Texts cited and referenced in Jane Johnson’s commonplace book
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210
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Appendix
iii
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Texts cited and referenced in Robert Augustus Johnson’s Journal
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214
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Select
bibliography
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217
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Index
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236
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