Drawing for Young Children: Containing One Hundred and Fifty Drawing Copies and Numerous Exercises

No stated author, attributed to Horace Grant. "Published under the superintendence of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge, London." Mauve cloth 8vo. Later printing. Originally published c. 1838. Early copies included advertisements for Parley's Magazine, where the first four plates and 28 numbered exercises first appeared in the November 1838 installment. The present text extended to 34 pages of text with 472 exercises, followed by 63 leaves of plates printed recto-only. Very Good with a splash of black ink across the cover and some pages a bit grubby with fingersoil, ink offsetting, stray marks consistent with use. Volume slightly bent and stressed at the spine. Rear flyleaf is affixed to the pastedown and also taped along a gutter tear--to counterintuitively pleasing visual effect.

A popular mid-19C drawing reference full of great illustrations intended to be copied by children between 4 and 12 years old. Some images have corresponding prompts, like number 274, an outline of a book, for which the child is also instructed to place an actual book in the proper position to compare with the copy. Additional exercises, such as one concerning perspective that encourages the child to observe a person walking toward them, extended the book's purview. Copying was often criticised as failing to develop any skill, but the author argues that since children are generally feeble of "eyes, hands and minds," and "profoundly ignorant," it is more worthwhile to begin training them with the ability to copy images as a form of written language, than to "wait until they have acquired accuracy of eye, steadiness of hand, and something approaching maturity of intellect." A great varied collection of images are included, included geometric shapes, letters, objects, scenery and figures--some in rather odd predicaments (misadventures with whips, boy in a barrel, animals of various temperments).