An Outline of the System of Education at New Lanark

Cincinnati: Deming & Wood – Printers, 1825. First American edition (following the Glasgow, 1824, edition). 8vo. 36 pp. Robert Dale Owen (1801-1877) was the son of social reformer and industrialist Robert Owen who created an innovative educational system at New Lanark in Scotland. At the age of 13 he toured factories that employed child laborers and between the ages of 18 and 22 he attended a progressive school in Hofwyl, Seitzerland, overseen by Emanuel von Fellenberg. These experiences imbued in him an early interest in social reform, reinforcing a conviction he shared with his father that education offered the potential for overcoming social divisions based on class, economic status, and gender. After finishing his schooling, Owen returned to New Lanark to help teach workers' children and write this pamphlet which he dedicated to his father. The tract is an important examination of the elder Owen's education system at New Lanark, and describes the development and organization of the first infant schools. Though some of Owen's ideas reflected systems created by J. H. Pestalozzi, a Swiss education reformer, many of the pedagogical techniques described in the pamphlet were original with him. Both Owen and his father later emigrated to the United States, founding the short-lived utopian community of New Harmony in Indiana. Robert Dale Owen was editor of the "New Harmony Gazette" and later served in the Indiana legislature, 1836-1838, and the U.S. House of Representatives, 1843-1847. American imprints 21765. OCLC locates five copies (Library Company, Illinois, Indiana State Library, St. Lawrence, Leicester). Contemporary ownership signature "M. G. Williams / Cincinnati / June 14 [year trimmed away for binding]" at head of title page. Milo G. Williams (1804-1880) was a prominent Ohio teacher and Swedenborgian educator who taught 1820-1870, opening the first New Church Sunday School in America in 1832, and, with Frederick Eckstein in 1824-1825, he tried out a modified version of Pestalozzi's new system, adapted from his own observations on a visit to Robert Owen's community in New Harmony. Some foxing, but very good. Disbound pamphlet. (9759). Item #61081

Price: $4,500.00

See all items in Americana
See all items by