Juvenile Marginalia and Other Things Children Leave in Books
Juvenile Marginalia and Other Things Children Leave in Books
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In her 1892 study of children’s literature, The Child and His Book, Louise Frances Field complains: “The subject of this volume is one which, from its nature, presents many difficulties as regards material. It is the fate of children’s books to be destroyed by children themselves” (v). Parents, teachers, children’s literature scholars, historians of the book, and bibliographers may all recognize the truth in Field's claim, but while we know that children often scribble in their books, write jokes, sign their names, color pictures, or store notes and objects between the pages, or even rip them out, it is harder to know what to make of such traces of juvenile readership or how to record them bibliographically.
In this webinar Karen Sánchez-Eppler, Professor of American Studies and English at Amherst College, will share instances of the varied ways that 19th-century American children have marked their books and discuss strategies for interpreting such marks. The webinar will include time for participants to think together about the potential uses and value of studying traces of juvenile readership and what insights it might offer into the history of childhood and the history of books.
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