Advice to a wife and mother in two parts

by Pye Henry Chavasse

PREFACE.

The sale of this book is enormous; where hundreds were formerly disposed of, thousands are now sold; and the sale still increases with increasing velocity.

The book has been a great success: I had the good fortune, some thirty years ago, to turn up new ground—to hit upon a mine, which I have, ever since, even until now, worked with my best energy and ability. One cause of the immense success this work has achieved is, that it treats of some subjects which, although they be subjects of vital importance to the well-being of children, all other works of a kindred nature do not even touch upon.

I have, during the last thirty years, been constantly on the watch to give a mother additional and useful advice on the management of her children; so that, in point of fact, this present edition consists of more than treble the quantity of information contained in the earlier editions. The quantity is not only increased, but the quality is, I trust, greatly improved.

The last edition, comprising five thousand copies, has been rapidly exhausted: to supply the increased and increasing demand, seven thousand copies of this—the Ninth Edition—are now published. The enormous, and, for a medical work, unusually large sale, is most gratifying to me as well as to my worthy publishers.

I have taken great pains to improve the present edition: much new matter has been introduced; several paragraphs have been abridged; some portions have been rewritten—as my extended experience has enabled me to enter on many of the subjects more fully, and, I trust, more usefully; and the book has been throughout thoroughly revised.

Lord Chesterfield, in writing to his son, once said: “If I had had longer time, I would have written you a shorter letter.” Now, I have found time both to curtail some of the passages of this work, and to remove many, indeed, a large majority of the quotations from the text. I have, consequently, been able to fill up the various spaces with much original, and, I trust, useful matter; and thus, without materially increasing the bulk of the book, to keep it within reasonable bounds. The notes and annotations of Sir Charles Locock are, however, perfectly intact—they are too valuable either to be omitted, or to be, in the slightest degree, curtailed.

The writing, revising, improving, and enlarging of this, and of my other work—Advice to a Wife—have, for upwards of a quarter of a century, been my absorbing occupation—my engrossing study. I have loved, and cherished, and tended the two books as though they were my children; and have, in each successive edition, always striven to bring them, as nearly as my abilities would allow, to a state of completeness—to make them, in fact, a perfect Vade-mecum for Wives and Mothers. I might truly say, that the occupation has ever been to me a source of pure and unalloyed enjoyment. The correction of the pages has often cheered me when I have been in grief or in trouble, and has soothed me when, in my profession, I have been either harassed or vexed: truly, I have had my reward! My fervent desire is, that some portion of the pleasure and comfort I have derived from the writing of these books may be experienced by my readers. If it be only a tithe of what I myself have felt, I shall be more than amply rewarded for my pains.

P. H. C.