Short and easy rules for attaining a knowledge of English grammar.

16mo (93 x 60mm), pp. 64; with engraved frontispiece; original yellow paper boards, later paper reback, with printed paper label to upper board.

Scarce work for children providing them with 'short and easy rules for attaining a knowledge of English grammar'. Although issued separately, the work was also designed to be included as part of Wallis's 'Bookcase of Knowledge', which comprised ten works on a variety of subjects, such as Arithmetic, Astronomy, Botany, Geography, History, Mythology and Natural History, all housed in a custom made miniature wooden bookcase to form a juvenile library.

'During the 1790s Ellenor Fenn was a force to be reckoned with in the promotion of what might be called home-reading-without-tears. A number of her books from this period mention or advertise boxes of letters and other equipment which were designed to help children learn through play. These experiments culminated in a series of brilliantly conceived "miniature libraries" initiated by her publisher, John Marshall. They were sets of tiny books, planned around themes and housed in wooden boxes whose lids were made to resemble the front of a bookcase. The first of these was actually the largest, ^gThe Juvenile, or Child's Library^g (1799-1800), but it was quickly followed by the smaller ^gInfant's Library^g (1800-1) - sixteen little books in a box - which proved to be the most popular of a whole succession of imitations ... Once John Marshall had shown the way, other publishers were quick to market alternatives to his Juvenile and Infant's libraries. As might be expected, John Wallis, with his involvement in maps, games, puzzles, and so on, was one of the foremost competitors.' (Anderson & Oyens, ^gBe Merry and Wise: Origins of Children's Book Publishing in England, 1650-1850^g, 2006, p. 128).

In 1800 London publisher John Marshall decided that parents were not the only ones who deserved the pleasure of a book-filled library. Small children should have their own, and henceforth ^gThe Infant's Library^g was conceived, designed and produced: John Wallis immediately copied his idea, although he chose to issue the books in 1801, apparently without a wooden cabinet at first, which was only supplied modelled on Marshall's in 1803.