The Rational Exhibit, (1800)

Teachers in classrooms with younger children used learning aids displayed on easels like this one to create learning stations, so that children classed together at the same level could gather around the material before moving from one station to another. The depiction of this rational instructor in a classroom setting contrasts with the humble conceit of the book. According to the preface, the book is a collection of texts the author transcribed from scraps pasted to a poor dame's cottage wall as patches, which she also used to teach her children. The author's account of the book's origins references the teaching practices of poor families, but the act of gathering torn scraps into a longer book creates a children's literature form more suitable for teaching the children of middle-class families, dressing up the dame's cottage wall in much the same manner as this title page. I use this image to capture the way books for middle-class children reference learning directly from the material world through observation and practical experience, while at the same time removing and protecting privileged readers from poverty and child labor. Worldly experiences are necessary for children to learn certain skills and values, yet implicitly threatening to their bodies and their socialization process. The title page for the 1803 edition is the same but reversed when copied by another engraver. The 1824 edition shows a dame school setting that more closely matches the book's description. Both 1803 and 1824 editions are available in full for viewing through Indian University Library Digital Collections.