HoB_ABCs

Title ABC with Colored Figures

Brief description A beautiful hand-engraved and hand-painted alphabet book made for or owned by Miss Louisa Prevot, in the early nineteenth century. Contains a 24 letter alphabet arranged in two columns of three boxed letters and illustrations on each page.

Full description ABC with Colored Figures is a hand-engraved and hand-painted alphabet book, produced for a wealthy girl named "Louisa Prevot" around 1800.

On the outside, this book has a dirty, mustard yellow cover with faded illustrations of streams, raccoons, and deer, but when the book is opened the vibrant, detailed illustrations are brilliant and well-preserved. The hand-painted colors include deep burgundy, yellow, green, blue, and brown in a variety of shades. This book is a delight because it appears old and dreary at first sight, but, once opened, the fantastic illustrations on the inside are unveiled.

ABC with Colored Figures employs many of the same devices as other alphabet books from 1750-1850. The content of the book is an illustrated 24-letter alphabet - no J or U - in block capital letters. The alphabet is arranged in two columns of three boxed letters and illustrations on each page, allowing 6 letters on each leaf. The letters are arranged as an array alphabet, which means that the letters are represented by objects in the real world (Crain 2000 p.91). This popular motif is still in use today when "A is for Apple" or "C is for Cat."

Unlike many alphabet books which make use of high and low culture representations, ABC with Colored Figures is dominated by high culture images and words such as yacht, zebu, Xenophon, vizier, ostler, crown, and baron. The images are primarily secular, which reflects the growing departure from religious iconography in children's literature.

Literacy In 1800, at the time ABC with Colored Figures was produced, literacy was on the rise but had not yet reached the levels that would be achieved by the mid-nineteenth century. By 1818, only one of every fourteen people in England attended school for some period of time. Between 1818 and 1833, however, there was a 73% increase in the amount of children who attended school.

For the owner of this book, however, an upper class child of financial means, there would have been an expectation of literacy by 1800. We can also see by the secularized nature of this book how detached literacy was from religiosity by the nineteenth century. Where almost all books geared toward children from the fifteenth through the eighteenth century drew heavily on religious references and images, the only spiritual figure in ABC with Colored Figures is the A for Angel.

Childhood ABC with Colored Figures is arranged as an array alphabet where the letters are represented by objects in the real world. Unlike other ABC books of this time period, the letters in this chapbook are not agents (ex: "A was an Archer"), but symbols that can attach to or instantiate within an infinite amount of objects.

The immaculate nature of the engraved and hand-painted illustrations suggests that this book's intended audience - according to the inscription, a "Miss Louisa Prevot" - was probably a child from a wealthy family.

The illustrations are mostly secular, the one exception being the inclusion of Angel for A. People, animals, and objects populate the other 23 letters. Once again, kings and queens democratically stand beside farmers and sailors in this alphabet book, but without the humor, cheekiness, or morality other chapbooks of this era employ.

The only child that is seen in this book is a small girl dancing with a musician, which hints that the author believed childhood was not merely for education and training, but fun as well. The romanticism of ABC with Colored Figures reflects the ideal of childhood as a cherished time for adventure and play.

Production ABC with Colored Figures was produced for an individual and not for mass market; therefore, we cannot make wide cultural generalizations based on the content of the book. Many elements, however, appear to be indicative of cultural norms typically represented in children's literature of the 1800s.

The wrapper, for instance, is covered in idyllic vignettes of streams, rivers, and wildlife. This book was not meant to frighten children into godliness, but to entertain, educate, and delight the intended reader. The text and images inside the book were obviously meant for a child from a refined and privileged upbringing and reflects the cultural attitudes of an upper class.

The vocabulary in the book is complex and sophisticated. Some of the words included are yacht, zebu, Xenophon, vizier, ostler, crown, and baron. Unlike the lowbrow humor of other alphabet books, ABC with Colored Figures does not include drunkards, robbers, zanies, or inebriated vintners.

The one modest character, the farmer, is the only character shown without proud posture and bright colors. Both women represented in the book, the Queen and the Ladies, are beautifully dressed and shown in a leisurely pose.

An interesting cultural reference is the Indian for the letter I. Most Indians in children's books are American Indians shown as savages in ceremonial dress. The Indian portrayed in ABC with Colored Figures is an Indian from India, as evidenced by the dress and camel in the background. This Indian is portrayed with perfect posture, in regal garb, shooting a bow and arrow.

Although the origin of the book is unknown, this picture indicates that the origin is somewhere outside of America. ABC with Colored Figures does not have a known publisher or author.

The book was hand engraved and hand-drawn as a gift for Miss Louisa Prevot, the child named in the book's inscription.

This book is made from a paper that is sturdier than most chapbooks and feels more like cardboard. The edges are trimmed and the book is hand sown. The colors of the hand-painted images are deep burgundy, yellow, green, blue, brown in a variety of shades, giving the book a more artistic quality than the mass produced children's literature of the same time period.