A Key to Knowledge; or, Things in Common Use. ; Simply and shortly explained, in a series of DIALOGUES Written by a Mother

16mo; 144 pages; Contents complete and secure in original binding of calf spine and green boards; binding quite rubbed at spine ends, corners and edges; bookplate and tp stamp of Meadville Theological School with signature of "Joshua Brooks "1824"; marginal stains to lower outer edge of pages; lower corner torn from ffep, small label at spine. Illustrated with a charming hand coloured engraved frontispiece. Printed by J. Van Riper. OCLC 926097815 Shaw et Shoemaker 48422 A wonderful work for young ladies presenting the uses of several common items, e.g., amber-gris, allspice, barley sugar, bricks, camphor, cork, coffee, diamonds, gunpowder, glue, hemp,ink, indian rubber, mortar, parchment, rosin, etc. Maria Elizabeth Budden, (nà e Halsey, c. 1780 â" 1832) was a novelist, translator and writer of didactic children's books, who frequently signed her work "M. E. B." or "A Mother". Her True Stories. series of history books for young people remained popular for many years. Budden's initial publications, including this debut, were issued without her full name, a practice common among women writers in early 19th-century Britain, where anonymity or pseudonyms like "A Mother" shielded authors from social scrutiny and allowed focus on the work's moral value rather than the writer's gender. Budden's entry into publishing occurred during the Napoleonic Wars era (1799â"1815), a time of social upheaval in Britain that spurred growing demand for affordable moral literature to instill stability, piety, and national values in the younger generation amid economic strains and wartime anxieties.…