PREFACE TO THE FIFTEENTH LONDON EDITION.
The thirteenth edition of “Evenings at Home,” a work which has not been superseded in general estimation by any later publication for the instruction and amusement of youth, appeared in 1823, enriched with the addition of some new pieces, and carefully revised and corrected throughout by Mr. Arthur Aikin. Since that time, its venerable author, and his distinguished sister and coadjutor, have both paid the debt of nature; and it appears proper to introduce this posthumous republication, by an account of their respective shares in its production. The plan, then, of the work originated solely with Dr. Aikin; the Introduction and Epilogue are both his, and about eleven parts in twelve of the whole. The pieces written by Mrs. Barbauld, including one found among her papers, and now first printed, are, the Young Mouse; the Wasp and Bee; Alfred, a Drama; Animals and their Countries; Canute’s Reproof to his Courtiers; the Mask of Nature; Things by their Right Names; the Goose and Horse; On Manufactures; the Flying-Fish; a Lesson on the Art of Distinguishing; the Phenix and Dove; the Manufacture of Paper; the Four Sisters; and Live Dolls;—amounting to fifteen out of one hundred and one.
A new arrangement of the matter has been followed in this edition, for which the editor is answerable. Her father was precluded from attending to this point in the first instance, by the manner in which the work grew under his hand. The volumes came out one or two at a time, with an interval of several years between the earliest and the latest. He did not at first contemplate so extensive a work; but his invention flowed freely—the applause of parents and the delight of children invited him to proceed; the slight thread by which he had connected the pieces was capable of being drawn out indefinitely, and the plan was confessedly that of a miscellany. Under these circumstances, it appeared allowable on a view of the whole work, to change the order, so as to conduct the young reader, in a gentle progress, from the easier pieces to the more difficult; or rather, to adapt the different volumes to different ages, by which the inconvenience might be avoided of either putting the whole set into the hands of a child, while one portion of its contents would not be intelligible to him, or withholding the whole until another portion should have ceased to be interesting. This idea the editor has, to the best of her ability, put in execution. Should she thus be the humble means of extending, in any degree, the influence of her father’s wisdom and genius—of his extensive knowledge, his manly principles, and his genuine benevolence and tenderness of heart—her pains will be amply rewarded.