The Oeconomy of Charity; or, an Address to Ladies;

"THE IMPORTANCE OF THE FEMALE SEX IN SOCIETY"

adapted to the preent state of Charitable Institutions in England: with a particular view to the Cultivation of Religious Principles, among the lower orders of people. by Mrs. Trimmer.

 

First Edition. Two Volumes. Small 8vo (190 x 113mm). xiii, [5], 337; [6], 353 pp. A little foxed in places but otherwise a clean and uncut copy with some gatherings still unopened. Original blue paper-backed publisher's boards, printed paper spine labels (spines worn and torn, labels beginning to detach, edges a little rubbed).

 

London: for J. Johnson...F. and C. Rivington...by Bye and Law, 

Trimmer published a different (and much shorter work) titled The oeconomy of Charity (1787). In the advertisement to the present work she notes that she was encouraged to publish a new and revised edition of that work but that her work with Sunday and charity schools since then necessitated an entirely new work.

 

A detailed work full of information on the education and treatment of the poor at the very beginning of the 19th century by largely female-led charitable institutions. The second volume concentrates on care for poor adults with information on soup kitchens, providing winter fuel, preventing infectious diseases and caring for pregnant women.

 

In 1786 Sarah Trimmer (1741-1810) opened a Sunday school near her home in Brentford which by 1788 had over 300 pupils. Trimmer used her experiences teaching her own children at home and produced entertaining (albeit evangelical) text books for her pupils. 

 

"In 1787 she opened a weekday school of industry for girls. The Old Brentford charity school trained orphaned or otherwise distressed middle-class girls as teachers and working-class girls in domestic service or appropriate trades...Her charity school work was well known; Queen Charlotte and the dowager Countess Spencer were among those who consulted Trimmer on founding similar institutions" (ODNB).

 

In the present work Trimmer sets out guidelines for how to run a Sunday school or Charity school for poor children with an emphasis on "Ladies" being encouraged to "take an active part in educating the Children of the Poor". The second part of the first volume includes numerous reports on the day-to-day running of schools in London, the rest of the country and, in one case, Halle in Saxony. 

 

In the second volume Trimmer widens her account to discuss the education of adults in poverty (including household servants). Trimmer discusses the nutritional requirements of adults and the state of housing, she also covers measures required for "relieving Prisoners". In the second part of the book she gives practical advice on how to provide comfort for the poor as well as real examples of how this can work in practice including a "Plan for a village Ship, established at Mongwell in Oxfordshire", and rules to be observed for preventing infectious diseases. 

 

Provenance: Earl of Minto, 19th-century armorial bookplate to the front pastedown of each volume. Bought by Maggs October 1954.

Stock Code: 229879