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Thomas Day (3) (1748–1789)

Autore di The History of Sandford and Merton

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6 opere 46 membri 3 recensioni

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Originally published in three volumes, in 1783, 1786 and 1789, The History of Sandford and Merton was a wildly popular English children's novel throughout the nineteenth century, going through forty-three British editions alone by 1883. Thomas Day, a wealthy Englishman, abolitionist and philosopher, known for his extraordinary "wife training" experiment - see How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain's Most Ineligible Bachelor and His Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate for a fuller exploration of this - as well as for penning The Dying Negro (1773), one of the earliest Abolitionist poems in English, was also the author of this philosophical novel for children, in which he set forth many of his ideas about education and morality. The main narrative follows the adventures of the eponymous Harry Sandford and Tommy Merton, the former a goodhearted and virtuous farm boy, the latter a spoiled young gentleman from the "big house" who clearly needs to mend his ways. Both boys are tutored by Mr. Barlow, following an incident in which Harry saves Tommy from a snake, and through the use of many inset stories, as well as numerous incidents in their own lives, Tommy is eventually reformed, becoming a less snobby, less prejudiced, and far more humane individual. Questions of justice and kindness - between the wealthy and the poor, between white and black, even between human and animal - are explored throughout, and although Tommy is for a time led astray by two public school boys he meets, he eventually returns to the right path...

The History of Sandford and Merton is an absolutely fascinating book, if one is interested in the history of children's literature and/or educational theory in the English-speaking world, and I am very glad indeed that it was included in the syllabus of my masters course. One can see the influence of such thinkers as Rousseau and Locke on Day, and how he used his two titular figures to explore the correct and incorrect way in which to raise and educate a young boy. Apparently, many of the 19th-century editions of the book excised the countless inset stories, related to the boys by their tutor, opting for a more streamlined narrative featuring just Sandford and Merton's doings. While I can certainly understand why that was done, in order to create a more enjoyable read for young children themselves, it does tend to rob the book of a certain 18th-century feeling that is most charming. It's not really the style now, but this sort of thing - the main narrative being interrupted for teaching tales, in order to illustrate a point - seems to have been almost ubiquitous at the time, and if one wants to get a sense of the original book, as its creator intended it, one should certainly lay hands on an edition that contains the unexpurgated 18th-century text. The edition I read was edited by Stephen Bygrave and Stephen Bending, and published by Broadview Press, who have reprinted a number of key 18th-century children's books, including Sarah Fielding's The Governess; or, The Little Female Academy. This is such a rich book, in terms of ideas, that I imagine it would yield a most interesting dissertation, in its own right. For my own part, I was struck by some of the egalitarian themes here - the idea that whites are not superior to blacks, the notion that wild animals deserve our protection, the rejection of class as the only indicator of virtue - ideas which, contrary to what some contemporary readers might expect, were not at all unusual in the pages of English children's literature of the late 18th century. Quite a few texts that I have read from this period, as it happens, address humane treatment of animals, benevolence toward the less fortunate, and the rejection of slavery as immoral. I don't want to overstate: there is much here that is outdated, and one need only read the book mentioned above, about Day's wife-training experiment, to appreciate that the author's notions of gender, and his expectations of women, were certainly not egalitarian. That said, I was still impressed by some of the positions taken by Day.

This is not everyday reading, and is not one I would recommend to everyone. I can't see today's children enjoying it, and even some adults who read children's literature might find it dry and off-putting. But for those readers interested in 18th-century children's literature and/or educational theory, it is a definite must! Just make sure, as mentioned, to obtain a copy with the full, original text.
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AbigailAdams26 | 1 altra recensione | Apr 21, 2020 |
Find the book at Gutenberg here (note some versions have illustrations), and wikipedia page here. If you want to read about the eccentric author, his wikipedia page is here.

It's thanks to another GRfolk, Bettie's review of How to Create the Perfect Wife: Britain's Most Ineligible Bachelor and his Enlightened Quest to Train the Ideal Mate - or adding the book to a shelf prior to review - which made me look up the author and then this book - and well, that's the random way you sometimes find yourself reading odd books you'd never heard of the day before.… (altro)
 
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bookishbat | 1 altra recensione | Sep 25, 2013 |
Emote, emote, thick as treacle, limpid as molasses! I dunno, the guy is black and he loves a white woman and he is mad because their love can never be and he worships Rousseau in a teenly fashion and we're supposed to go "he's like a regular melodramatic male lead only black! we like him! no more slaves!" Tedious, with the only savour coming in the crunchily apocalyptic ending.
½
1 vota
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MeditationesMartini | Mar 7, 2010 |

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Statistiche

Opere
6
Utenti
46
Popolarità
#335,831
Voto
3.2
Recensioni
3
ISBN
64
Lingue
4