La littérature enfantine en Angleterre au XVIIIe siècle

Although children's books were available at the beginning of the eighteenth century, they developed from 1744 onwards and became very popular in the 1790s. Sarah Fielding, Anna Laetitia Barbauld and Maria Edgeworth wrote for children in order to teach them moral principles. The first outstanding book was Sarah Fielding's The Governess; or, Little Female Academy, Being the History of Mrs Teachum and Her Nine Girls (1749), which stressed obedience and righteousness. Anna Laetitia Barbauld took after the fable genre whereas Maria Edgeworth wrote a treatise on education and several tales collected in The Parent's assistant; or, Stories for Children (1796). Those books were often illustrated to stimulate children's imagination and appetite for reading.Loussouarn Sophie. La littérature enfantine en Angleterre au XVIIIe siècle. In: XVII-XVIII. Bulletin de la société d'études anglo-américaines des XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. N°50, 2000. pp. 99-114