The best children's writers of the 18th century and their works

Children's works occupy an important place among other varieties of fiction, because in many respects reflect the characteristics of the culture of a particular people, the system of its values. Each culture has its own notions of good and evil, right and wrong, beautiful and ugly, fair and unjust. As a child, we absorb the values that remain with us for life. The importance of literature for children, therefore, should not be underestimated.

It should be noted the characteristic feature of children's books - a combination of artistry and pedagogical requirements. Such literature should not only entertain, but also teach, guide, and orient. Children's writers of the 18th century (and their works, of course) sought to convey to children important knowledge about the world, to inspire the right values.

Let's take two countries - Great Britain and Russia - and on the example of children's works created in these states, we will see that this is indeed so. Literature of the 18th century, writers and their works are brought to your attention.

Children's literature of the Great Britain of 18 centuries

Each of us has his favorite books from his childhood: tales of "Alice in Wonderland", "Kid and Carlson who lives on the roof", "Matilda", "Thumbelina", "Gulliver's Travels" and "Robinson Crusoe" (list, of course , Everyone has his own). But suppose that we would not grow up in the 21st century in Russia, but in the 18th century in England, what could we then read?

From the above list, we would only have the book "Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe (1719) and "Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift (1726) in a special version for children, written in a simplified language, with many pictures.

However, does this mean that in the 18th century the English children had nothing to read? Let's figure it out.

The fact is that fairy-tale stories have always existed, and there has never been a defect in them. Even when there was no written language, they were passed down from generation to generation in the form of folklore. But in the 17-18 centuries, with the development of printing, more and more professional writers began to appear, in particular children's writers. Fairy tales at the time, as now, admired and frightened children, creating fantastic worlds, which adults, absorbed in everyday cares, did not always approve.

Here are just the main children's writers of the 18th century and their works.

"Robinson Crusoe" by Daniel Defoe

Let us return to England in the 18th century. At that time, if I may say so, the real "best seller" was Defoe's work. The book "Robinson Crusoe" praised the courage, perseverance, resourcefulness of a man forced to exist in extreme conditions. Also popular was Jonathan Swift's fairy tale, in which the author's appeal to the discovery of new dimensions and horizons is felt.

"Gulliver's Travels" by Jonathan Swift

The success of "Gulliver's Travels" led even to the fact that other books began to appear for children, in which the desire to imitate this work was clearly read, with the words "Gulliver" and "Lilliput" in the titles, in order to evoke a certain association. One of the earliest examples was the children's "Lilliput Magazine", published in 1751, created by John Newbery, a writer from London. Another example is the "Library of the Lilliputians, or the Gulliver Museum" in ten volumes of a small format, published in Dublin in the 1780s. This book was released specifically for children, and its price was small, so that children could buy it. The total value of 10 volumes was only five British shillings, and individual parts could be bought at six pence each. However, even this relatively low price was still too high for many children and their parents. Only representatives of middle-income and high-income families could afford to buy such literature and had enough literacy to read it.

Other books

Cheap books in the genre of popular literature existed even then and were available to less well-off segments of the population. They included children's stories, stories, travels, songs, prayer books, stories about robbers, robbers and murderers. These volumes were of poor quality and sold for one or two pennies.

In 1712, a translation into English of the famous Arabian tales "A Thousand and One Nights" appeared.

As you can see, children's literature of that time actively developed in England. And what was on the territory of Russia? Read more about this.

Russian Books for Children of the 18th Century

In Russia, the children's writers of the 18th century and their works (the first Russian books written specifically for children, were created on the territory of our state as early as the 17th century, the 18th century continued this tradition).

The era of Peter I gave impetus to the development of enlightenment, in particular literature for children. The tsar himself believed that it was very important to take care of the upbringing of the younger generation. At this time, children's books pursue an educational goal. Textbooks, alphabets and letters are printed.

"Youth honest mirror"

Writers of the 18th century (Russian) list of children's literature open with an educational. As an example, you can cite "Youth honest mirror". In this work, the rules of conduct at the court were introduced, which Peter the Great introduced with his reforms. This book was made up of the czar's successors by his personal decree. At the head of the writers working on the work was Gavrila Buzhinsky. Among other things, the book contained materials on spelling, alphabet, and spelling. It was intended "Youth honest mirror" to the future elite, the king's support - to children, who later were to become courtiers. The main idea is that the achievement of success is more important than the origin of a person, but his personal merits, although the special position of the nobility was emphasized. His vices were pointed out and criticized. For girls, a special code was created out of twenty virtues, among which one should especially note helpfulness, taciturnity, religiousness, diligence. Writers of the 18th century (Russian) list of female virtues revealed figuratively, by example, creating vivid female images in their works.

Translated Literature

In the eighteenth century, translated literature, such as Aesop's fables, also spread. These fables, written in the 6th century BC. E. Sage Aesop, are well perceived by children due to the opportunity to present themselves in the image of heroes - animals, birds, trees, flowers ... Aesop's fables give the opportunity to joking and playing to overcome their vices and develop associative thinking.

After the fifties, children's writers of the 18th century and their works begin to appear. But still the bulk of children's literature is borrowed from the West (especially from France). It should be noted, of course, the famous French storyteller of the 17th century Charles Perrault. His tales of "Cinderella", "Sleeping Beauty", "Little Red Riding Hood", "Bluebeard" are known and loved by children around the world. Not only readers but also poets and writers of the 18th century drew inspiration from these works.

Writers of the 18th century

The list is opened by Feofan Prokopovich. This author wrote for children two books - "A Brief Russian History", as well as "The First Teaching of the Youth." In the preface to the second book, he noted that childhood is a very important time in the life of every person, since it is then that the main character traits and habits are formed. Children should read books and love them.

Catherine II

Not only professional poets and writers of the 18th century created children's books. Even the heads of state considered it their duty to teach youth themselves. This example was shown by Catherine II. She created a large number of works, among which were books for children, for example, "The Tale of Tsarevich Chlora" and "The Tale of Tsarevich Feive." Of course, they were far from fairy tales in the modern sense of the word, with their bright characters and heroes. These works only depicted the vices and virtues in general, abstract. However, the example of Catherine II was contagious, and he was later followed by many famous Russian writers of the 18th century, creating works especially for children.

Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov

An important contribution to the development of children's literature was made by Nikolai Ivanovich Novikov. He is the publisher of the first children's magazine - "Child Reading for the Heart and Mind." It printed works of various genres: fairy tales, stories, plays, jokes, etc. Not only fiction was represented in the magazine. It included popular scientific children's articles telling young readers about nature, the surrounding world, various countries, cities and peoples inhabiting them. These articles were written figuratively, interestingly, in the form of a conversation. Novikov in his works preached the ideas of good and humanism, human dignity, which, in his opinion, should be taught from childhood to children. The magazine was a great success and was very popular at the time. Famous writers of the 18th century were published in this edition.

Nikolay Michailovich Karamzin

It is necessary to say a few words about Nikolai Mikhailovich Karamzin. This writer created and translated more than 30 different works for children. Being a representative of sentimentalism (which was followed by many Russian writers of the 18th century), so close to children's nature, he became especially loved among young middle-aged and older readers. In 1789 the first works of Karamzin were published in the magazine "Children's Reading for the Heart and Mind". Nikolai Mikhailovich wrote for children after the closure of this journal. In the last decade of the 18th century, such works as "The Beautiful Tsarevna", "The Dense Forest" and "Ilya Muromets" were created by him. The last fairy tale reflected the Russian epic. This work was not finished. Ilya Muromets, created by the writer's pen, was not at all like a typical hero from the epic, as we usually imagine it, but only somewhat reminiscent of the latter. The fairy tale does not describe fights against Russia's enemies, it opens the lyrical part of the soul of Ilya of Murom in communicating with his beloved. In the spirit of sentimentalism, Karamzin described in detail the feelings of the heroes, creating vivid pictures.

Conclusion

Thus, the 18th century brought a lot of new to children's literature both abroad and in our country. Literature for children actively continued its development in 19, and then in the 20th century. And in its development there is clearly a continuity. For example, Charles Perrault's fairy tales were later used by Andersen, Pushkin, the Brothers Grimm, Irving. That is, the motives of some of the fairy tales have perfectly taken root in others. The works of Russian writers of the 18th century were read both in 19 and later. The children's literature of the 19th century is characterized by a still greater connection with literature for adults, as well as with enlightenment and culture in general.