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    > I ' ¦' ¦ 'V^I^^ I TTwl 734 The Publish...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    Jhirty-F Ive Years Ago The Following T J...

    their compilation ; while all classes of

    publishers have spared no expense , and made every effort to bring them before the public ,

    "with every advantage of embellishment , in every variety of form , and at every price . .

    * School-books constitute , in fact , one of the most important departments of our literature ,

    and are not surpassed in number , in ability , and suitableness to their object . In some

    peculiar departments of literature the assistance of Government may sometimes , perhaps ,

    be necessary , or not very objectionable . But in the production of school-books it is quite as

    superfluous and uncalled for as it -would be in the production of calicoes or cambrics . '

    These trenchant and truthful remarks were embodied in a remonstrance against the

    action of the Irish Education Commissioners , whose books were then being largely imported

    from the sister isle . Everyone remembers the rough appearance of the books , with their

    primitive-looking canvas covers , and ragged printing which would have aroused a

    shuddering horror in the breast of the mildest apostle of present-day sestheticism . Certainly the

    matter contained in the Irish books was of very fair qu + 4 \* ality ms , while they % f were uncommonly

    cheap , and these circumstances contributed to gain for the series a wide butas it has proved

    *~* , A . , not a lasting popularity . The compilers , too , were somewhat unscrupulous in their selection .

    One case , alone , of piracy in connection with poetical extracts involved the expenditure of

    at least £ 600 of public money to compromise the matter .

    But , dismissing . this curious experience of the past , it is peculiarly gratifying to notice

    how well the words of the Messrs . Longmans and Mr . Murray have been borne out under

    modern conditions of a far more exacting nature , and of a much wider importance JL and '

    extent . The interval , it is almost needless to Bay , has seen not only a natural and general

    improvement in national education , but also the establishment of an immense compulsory

    system which has demanded a complete change in teachers' appliancesa continued adaptation

    , to the results of new experiences , and a vast addition to the emp ¦ a . loyment * r of labour as well

    as to the expenditure of capital . That private enterprise A should have been able to meet these - - —

    ever-increasing and ever-changing requirements of modern education must be considered

    as a hi gh testimony to the public spirit and intelligent watchfulness maintained by the

    trade . Healthy competition in this connection has done a & much as anything else to gain for

    i our modern school-books their undoubtedly unequalled t . »» v ^ > w > twv » character v <« , uu uvvuii for * V » A literary AA * l \ na- <** . Jf and CftAAVA artistic Ul , bUI |/ lV

    ; excellence , and for the no less commendable QHC' 11 m • i i * ' i . i i 111 . 11 111 i i ii hi i ii ii i . ' , " ' , ' ' ' ' . " .,.. " . ^

    qualities due to honest workmanship , yr should be sorry to endorse the opinions of

    those tnose inconsiderate inconsiderate critics critics who who so sn often of + <« . bean v . . their notices of school-books by some slighting allusion to the numbers of such books that

    already exist . Teachers , like every other claa of workers , must have their imp lements of

    Jk ~ " * vu daily labour , and the more they have to select y ^ from the better it will be for themselves and

    for *• their i t work * i . The mi capacit ¦ y of a teacher may often be judged by the character of ¦¦ the i books

    *^ ^ - ^ 9 * ^ *•¦ ¦¦ ' ^» WVUQM which he selects . Let us look for a moment at the enormously —¦»•• v utjj f

    increasing demand which educational publishers have had to meet since the passing of the

    Elementary -. Education ^ mp *^ ^ m Act Am of 1870 —^ *** - i . ^ . A comparison between the statistics of 1870 and 1884 will

    be sufficient to illustrate our remarks . In England and Wales the number of schools

    inspected in 1870 was 8 , 281 ; in 1884 , 18 , 874 were inspected , thus showing an increase of

    about 128 per cent . Accommodation was provided in 1870 for 1 , 878 , 584 scholars , figures

    which in 1884 had risen to 4 , 826 , 738 , that is to say an increase of 157 per cent . In 1870

    the average attendance at day and night schools was 1 , 225 , 764 , while 1884 showed an

    average of 3 , 273 , 124 . As might be expected the number of teachers has risen in proportion ,

    the aggregate , classed as certificated , assistant , pupil , or studying at training collegesbeing

    , 30 , 130 in 1870 , and 82 , 447 in 1884 , that is to say 173 per cent . In Scotland the number of

    schools in 1884 was 3 , 131 with 587 , 945 children on the rolls . The average attendance was

    448 , 242 . Without reference to statistics of our great

    system of private , middle-class , and higher public B *^ ^ v ^ «^^ « fe ^ b ^ M ^ schools W ^ mw ^ tr mm ^ m ^^^ ^^ m ^ r ^ mr , « these ^ mr tarn ^ , ir r *& - ^ mW ^ fi k ** gures r *^^ ^^^< v * v ^^^ Wm 9 will V ^ ****** « g ^& m ± ^ ive — « v telling ^^

    illustration of the necessities which have to be ¦ met tV by educational mt ¦ mt ~ m ^^ ¦ b publishers ml in numbers

    ^ P ^ ^ B ^^^ ^ mwr ^ V ^^ •/ ^^* ^^^ r ^~^ r ^~^ mw ^^ r ^^ " ^ mr ^ v ^ ^^ ^^ ^ v ^^^^ X B ^^ ^ ^^ v ^^* ^*^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^^ ^^ alone . We need not enter upon the harassing question VI * - *^ - * KJ V M , V- ^ ** of ~*** rjm . the V ** W"V ^ changes V * JkVV ** yk ^«^»» # which VTA **^**— occur - * -- - «^ ¦— either

    through Governmental dictatorship , or through the shifting nature of individual tastes .

    These changes naturally awaken much hostility jvi-nrvnor nftrmlle ft who whr > have havft to to bear bear the the burden buraen w oi

    among peop the cost , and , broadly speaking , they a . re deprecated as much by publishers as they are bthe general bodof \ st the \ j public » -r ** w . Changes — ,

    kjjf y uiic ^ diciaJL * jw * jt y . uam . j ^ i ^» . w however Ul must UOl / J march 1 »« , ViAJI are . with Y » XI essential > JIJL the \ J 11 K 2 times UJLIAA in this . . In ^ - ** matter our " present i . we

    school-books there are few features which command ILLiXlUJL more HM . KJIlKJ esteem COI / COX 1 I than VllO / lX the * j * m . \ j * fact »*¦«« that they

    are being kept modern , in appearance , an < j the thoroughly modern of inculcating in the choice lessons of . lesrons Children an *

    manner in ordinary day schools , therefore , m aintance ay now grow up not only having an acqu

    however slight , with the best . otour wu" ^ tt * tw m % ^ mmmt % ^ mmmmmmiwm ^ mt * t ** wmym > tt ^ mmmm -mm ^ mm ^ ^ ^^^^^^^^

    > I ' ¦' ¦ 'V^I^^ I Ttwl 734 The Publish...

    > I ' ¦ ' ¦ 'V ^ I ^^ I TTwl 734 The Publishers' Circular AugustTS

• Citation
  • Publishers’ Circular (1880-1890), Aug. 15, 1885, page 734, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/pc/issues/tec_15081885/page/2/