This children's history of England by Maria Callcott (1785 1842) was written as though she were telling a series of stories to a young boy known as 'Little Arthur'. Having travelled widely during her first marriage, publishing accounts under the name Maria Graham, she had become an invalid by 1831 owing to a burst blood vessel. Nevertheless, she continued her literary activity and became best known for this highly popular work. The first edition, published by John Murray in two volumes in 1835, is reissued here in a single volume. In the course of the century after its appearance, the book...

This three-volume history of England from before the Roman conquest through to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was originally serialised in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words between 1851 and 1853. The text was published in book form in the same period, although each volume was post-dated to the following year. Dickens dedicated the work to his own children, intending it to be a stepping stone to more substantial histories. The volumes were popular with readers for decades, and were used in British schools well into the twentieth century. Dickens employs his signature style to bring...

This three-volume history of England from before the Roman conquest through to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was originally serialised in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words between 1851 and 1853. The text was published in book form in the same period, although each volume was post-dated to the following year. Dickens dedicated the work to his own children, intending it to be a stepping stone to more substantial histories. The volumes were popular with readers for decades, and were used in British schools well into the twentieth century. Dickens employs his signature style to bring...

This three-volume history of England from before the Roman conquest through to the Glorious Revolution of 1688 was originally serialised in Charles Dickens' magazine Household Words between 1851 and 1853. The text was published in book form in the same period, although each volume was post-dated to the following year. Dickens dedicated the work to his own children, intending it to be a stepping stone to more substantial histories. The volumes were popular with readers for decades, and were used in British schools well into the twentieth century. Dickens employs his signature style to bring...

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...

A physician and medical reformer enthused by the scientific and cultural progress of the Enlightenment as it took hold in Britain, Thomas Percival (1740-1804) wrote on many topics, including public health and demography. His volume on medical ethics is considered the first modern formulation, and it and several of his other works are reissued in this series. This short book of improving tales, first published in 1777, and revised and enlarged in 1779, was originally written for his own children, and, as he says, the articles 'are placed in the order in which they were written ... as leisure...

In this 1798 work, Wakefield suggests ways for women without the support of husband or family to earn a living.

Among the contributors to this 1884 work are many famous names in the struggle for women's rights.

This 1862 book considers the theory and purpose of education, and the particular issues of its application to girls.