The Infant’s Cabinet of Trades

The cabinet consists of a wooden box case, a set of cards, and two miniature books titled Description of Trades. A print illustration glued to the sliding lid shows a well dressed father or tutor accompanied by a younger boy at the shipyards, where people are at work. Both point enthusiastically to a ship flying a British flag being unloaded by dock workers who stack barrels. Marshall produced many thematic cabinets like this one, with two miniature books and a set of hand colored cards. At the bottom of each card is a volume and page reference to a short description in the books, a system that requires children to move between observing pictures of the world and looking up related information in books. This action trains younger children to look up information in books about the common objects around them. Four sample cards show a few of the engraved, hand-painted illustrations for various trades: Bookseller, Printer, Bookbinder, and Painter, with page references to the miniature books.