The Governess, or The Little Female Academy
Title page of the first edition
Author: Sarah Fielding
Published: 1749
Publisher: A. Millar, in the Strand
Summary: the story centers on nine girls who recount their own lives and tell each other stories that highlight an essential moral lesson. The are various interventions by their governess, Mrs. Teachum, and several activities and field trips which show their progress and moral development.
Importance: the first novel written expressly for children (although earlier adult novels, such as Pamela (1740), had been censored and edited for children). Unlike the Edgeworths and Sarah Trimmer, Fielding promoted the use of fairy tales, as long as they had a moral message and were properly contextualized as an exaggeration for the purpose of education.
Online: http://books.google.com/books?id=g68NAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22the+governess%22+%22sarah+fielding%22&hl=en&ei=m0sHTfDdKYaBnweOv6XICQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false
Published: 1749
Publisher: A. Millar, in the Strand
Summary: the story centers on nine girls who recount their own lives and tell each other stories that highlight an essential moral lesson. The are various interventions by their governess, Mrs. Teachum, and several activities and field trips which show their progress and moral development.
Importance: the first novel written expressly for children (although earlier adult novels, such as Pamela (1740), had been censored and edited for children). Unlike the Edgeworths and Sarah Trimmer, Fielding promoted the use of fairy tales, as long as they had a moral message and were properly contextualized as an exaggeration for the purpose of education.
Online: http://books.google.com/books?id=g68NAAAAQAAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=%22the+governess%22+%22sarah+fielding%22&hl=en&ei=m0sHTfDdKYaBnweOv6XICQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=3&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAg#v=onepage&q&f=false