![]() Among the notable exceptions is, the otherwise anonymous, Catharinetta, the daughter of a barber, who was the sole female student out of 500 listed in Genoese documents for 1498–1500. Girls, if they received any scholastic education, were those from wealthy families, and taught by private tutors. Though during the Middle Ages and even the Renaissance, the consensus was that girls were not scholastically inclined and that their education should comprise only those subjects conducive to good housekeeping, there are again notable exceptions. For example, in Florence in 1480, with a total population of about 42,000, approximately 28% of boys aged between ten and thirteen attended formal schools, suggesting a literacy rate of around a third. Although it is very difficult to determine exact rates for literacy among fifteenth-century children, we are able to extrapolate data from extant records. For more about this book, see The Public Domain Review.Īnother important factor when considering the introduction of children’s books is literacy rates. The first children’s picture book, Orbis Pictus, was published in 1658 by the Czech philosopher and pedagogue, John Comenius. Reading for entertainment or leisure was frowned upon as a frivolous waste of time and energy. Moreover, until this time, books produced for children were almost exclusively didactic works: Latin grammars and texts, and moral and religious instruction. In fact, until the eighteenth century, and the work of educators like John Newbery, the genre, that we today call children’s books, did not exist. There are rare exceptions for example, the Ashmolean manuscript, produced for the children of wealthy parents. During the Middle Ages, then, children were not exposed to the wonder that is books. The thought of a five-year-old enthusiastically attacking an illuminated manuscript would likely bring most curators and bibliographers to tears. ![]() ![]() These manuscript books were unique and expensive – not the kind of item one would put in the hands of a child or infant. Of course, prior to the introduction of printing in the mid-fifteenth century, all books were handwritten. ![]() And, of those that have, many bear the hallmarks of accelerated wear and tear. Fifteenth-century children were no different, and so it is no surprise that most of the very earliest printed children’s books, despite being printed in relatively large numbers, have not survived. Parents also know that children’s books are likely to have relatively short shelf lives torn pages, chewed corners, and crazed crayoning conspire toward the book’s inevitable annihilation. Anyone who has children understands that books are a crucial part of their development. ![]()
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