Marmaduke Multiply. by (WRITING and DRAWING). TOWNSEND, Fran. L.

18mo (115 × 95 mm), 18 leaves (fragmentary watermarks of 1811), with stubs at front and rear and after the second leaf, evidently removals but perhaps by the maker, 20 pages completed with drawings, sometime captioned, in pencil, some with faint wash highlights. Stitched in original marbled paper wrapper, manuscript label to the upper cover. Rather worn, but sound.

An intriguing homemade book created by an aspiring young writer, copying extracts from a popular juvenile title, Marmaduke Multiply, published in 1817 and designed to teach multiplication with engaging illustrations. In this version, a Francis (or possibly Frances) Taylor has copied extracts from the book using different hands, without much thought to order. Some are captioned ‘with my left hand’, another ‘half with my right hand’ as though he or she were deciding which was the best hand, or simply trying writing and drawing with an unfamiliar hand. Given the general insistence on right hand writing in the period it is an unusual survival, albeit rudimentary, an evidence of active learning activities in the acquisition of early literacy.