Hieroglyphic Amusement on the Following Subjects Education Modesty Reputation Vanity Elegance Religion Knowledge Curiosity Applause Reflection Insinuation Complacency.

[ANONYMOUS] -

Published by London Publish d Boston Republish d by W. Norman, 1801.

About this Item

18 leaves, 18mo (5½ x 3½ inches), comprising engraved frontispiece, engraved title, a leaf of letterpress text, 12 leaves of engraved hierogylphs on the 12 subjects, a leaf of letterpress text and two blank leaves, the blank recto of the frontispiece and the final blank leaf pasted to the original embossed colored wrappers as issued, some early and neat hand-coloring; a well-used and soiled copy with two clean tears repaired and two hieroglyphic leaves ("Modesty" and "Knowledge") with corners torn away but with loss only of the line borders, the plates for "Religion" and "Curiosity" less fully inked than the others, but all readable. Expertly restored and resewn in the original embossed and colored wrappers. Three early ownership inscriptions: "E. Weston", this lined through on the title-page and replaced with "George Appleton s 1804" [or possibly "1809"] and, on the blank verso of the title, a large and calligraphic signature "Nathaniel Thomas". First and apparently the only American edition. The Boston publisher William Norman also published an edition of the New Hieroglyphic Bible in 1794, which was successful enough for him to reprint or reissue it in 1796. Doubtless that success inspired him to produce the present Hieroglyphic Amusement, which had been published in London by John Wallis as a set of twelve engraved cards accompanied by a small printed booklet in 1791. Jill Shefrin mentions the Wallis publication in her Make it a Pleasure and not a Task: Educational Games for Children in Georgian England: (Princeton University Library Chronicle 60, 1999). Wallis published several sets of rebus cards: in 1791 a set of twelve cards entitled Hieroglyphic Amusements. . . . The passage on Education recalls Locke: "As the young plant groweth as it is bent. . . so is a young child in the hands of the mother. - Trust not a man-servant with the education of thy son, nor a maidservant with the education of thy daughter." This American publication is even rarer than sets of the London cards. There are two copies in OCLC, AAS and Peabody Essex. The Peabody Essex library catalogue entry gives "4 pages, 12 leaves" [i.e. 14 leaves: is their copy complete?]; the American Antiquarian Society copy is backlogged for cataloguing.

Seller Inventory # 14306

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Hieroglyphic Amusement on the Following Subjects Education Modesty Reputation Vanity Elegance Religion Knowledge Curiosity Applause Reflection Insinuation Complacency.
• Publisher: London Publish d Boston Republish d by W. Norman, 1801.
• Binding: Soft cover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good