Untitled
Description:
This illustration depicts a rough image of Earth, which is shown floating in black space that grows misty near the edges. Europe is white, while everything "east," as well as Australia, is colored a lighter grey; Africa is entirely black. Neither the Americas nor Great Britain are shown.
Copyright:
Copyright 2009, Department of Special Collections, Memorial Library, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Madison, WI
Accession Number:
CA 17220 no. 952
Height (in centimeters):
6
Width (in centimeters):
5
Printing Context
This image appeared in an English printing of Tales About Europe by Peter Parley.Associated Texts
Samuel Goodrich’s Peter Parley series was reprinted many times in both its native America and in England. This immense popularity, however, resulted in countless imitations and occurences of unauthorized use of the name and material. Tales About Europe was one of Goodrich’s first works, and was the target of so much illegal republication that it is difficult to know exactly how many editions were released in total.Subject
This rendering of Earth seems to depict each visible continent as the same "shade" of skin stereotypically used to describe its inhabitants. Consequently, this illustration serves as an example of the attempt to inculcate children with both a knowledge of the world and the proper perspective with which to view that world.Significance
Combining an educational view of the globe with a common racial stereotype of Africa, this image shows that English publishers (and presumably parents) were willing to embrace American-made texts and illustrations for their children as long as they ascribed to the same set of prevailing philosophies as English authors. Hannah More was both an influence on and a proponent of Parley’s books, finding in them an appropriate balance between worldly instruction and protective moral constraints (Butts 154). This particular image, though simple, encompasses this tentative acceptance of transatlantic children’s material perfectly—it teaches children both what the world looks like and how they are to look at it. The image itself (taken apart from the accompanying text) indicates the extent to which the continent was intentionally characterized by its inhabitants. The visual effect created is one that associates Africa exclusively with the color of those who live there, creating a tie between place and race at the same moment it shows the child the extent of the world outside Europe.Function
Images in children’s textbooks of the period were intended to provide students with an example of the concept or subject being addressed.Bibliography
Butts, Dennis. "How Children's Literature Changed: What Happened in the 1840s?" The Lion and the Unicorn 21.2 (1997): 153-162. Print.Featured in Exhibit:
Image Date:
1839