Maria Edgeworth, Moral Tales

Sharon Jude Murphy (St. Patrick's College, Drumcondra)
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Moral Tales

was first published in 1801, and the collection had its origins in the determination of Maria Edgeworth (1768-1849) and her father both to illustrate the educational precepts that they had set out in

Practical Education

(1798), and to provide stories for children older than the audience of

The Parent's Assistant

(1796), an earlier work. The initial popularity of this work, whose tales attempted “neither [to] dissipate the attention, nor inflame the imagination” of its young readers (1: v), can be gauged from the fact that there were two further editions in 1802 and 1806, American editions in 1810 and 1819, as well as numerous French editions and translations of both the full collection and individual tales. The popularity of

Moral Tales

declined during the course of the…

1027 words

Citation: Murphy, Sharon Jude. "Moral Tales". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 31 May 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3489, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3489 Moral Tales 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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