Beschreibung:

Mutter- und Kose-lieder. Dichtung und Bilder zur edlen Pflege des Kindheitlebens. Ein Familienbuch.
Blankenburg bei Rudolfstadt: Die Anstalt zur Pflege des Beschäftigungstriebes der Kindheit und Jugend, n.d. [but 1844]. Small folio (10 1/2 x 7 1/2 inches; 268 x 191mm). Pictorial engraved half-title, letterpress text with some pages within pictorial engraved or decorative typographic borders. Late-19th century red morocco, elaborately tooled in gilt, original wrappers bound in at front and rear. Condition : light spotting, inner hinges re-enforced, an ink stain at upper blank margin of most leaves; binding with edges and corners a bit scuffed, later endpapers, later spine label. Provenance : Dr Johanna Monschein (with ownership stamp); W Wittke (bookplate). first edition, with a distinguished provenance, of one of the landmark books in the history of education, intended for mothers as much as for teachers, showing the significance of the “kindergarten” and its claim to be the cornerstone upon which all primary child education should rest. The book is well produced with pictorial half-title, engraved borders after Friedrich Unger in fine German romantic style, and three elaborate type ornament borders. This copy is from the distinguished library of historical children's books formed by Viennese collector Dr Johanna Monschein, though it was not included in her 1979 exhibition catalogue at the National Library of Austria. "In 1837 Froebel was back in the district where he was born and opened his first infant school at Blankenburg. It was here that he instituted his Kindergarten. He published, at his own expense, the charming Fondling Songs for Mothers with the motto 'Come, let us bring life to our children!' Froebel's basic principle was to teach children by means of instructive games. Their interest was to be aroused by participation in a game, sometimes re-enforced by supplying the children with a variety of familiar objects - balls of colored wool, matchsticks, wooden bricks, strips of colored paper, etc. - with which they were encouraged to make patterns and constructions to their own design. They were then persuaded to answer a series of questions carefully framed to rationalize these pursuits and relate them to their everyday lives. All this is outlined in our book, with music, songs and games added. In 1851 the Prussian Government suppressed the Kindergartens which Froebel had created, as 'atheistic and demagogic'. He died very suddenly in 1852: the year in which the Oxford Dictionary records the acceptance of Kindergarten as an English word. "Froebel made his Mutter und Kose-Lieder the foundation of his lectures to Kindergarten teachers on his theory, and over and over again he repeated: I have here laid down the fundamental ideas of my educational theory; whoever has grasped the pivot idea of this book understands what I am aiming at ... " (See: Papers on Froebel.. republished from The American Journal of Education , Henry Barnard, editor, [Barnard, 1890], p.227). Christine Pressler 166; Printing And The Mind Of Man 317; Rümann 114; Wegehaupt 666; also see Sammlung Brüggemann 243 (4th edition).