Jane Johnson, A Very Pretty Story

Pamela Price (Cardiff University)

Ed. by Dimitra Fimi, University of Glasgow
The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1745

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Children's Literature
Story

Resources

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A Very Pretty Story to tell children when they are about five or six years of age

(1749), written by Jane Johnson (1706-1759), is a unique and private text aiming not only to educate but also entertain her children, Miss Barbara Johnson and Master George William Johnson. Johnson’s children “took vast delight in hearing it told over and over again a vast many times by Jane Johnson” (Johnson, 2001[1744], p. 77).

A Very Pretty Story

reflects the Lockean principles of the eighteenth century and the wider growing trend in the development of children’s literature, moving away from purely didactic texts to those that instruct and delight. It is original in that it is a private writing revealing how a mother of the time educated her children. Johnson’s title,

A Very Pretty Story

, is…

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2204 words

Citation: Price, Pamela. "A Very Pretty Story". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 30 July 2022 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=40701, accessed 23 April 2024.]

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