concerning the pictures of this book and a few words about the bibliography.
the day of the historical textbook without illustrations has gone. pictures and photographs of famous personages and equally famous occurrences cover the pages of breasted and robinson and beard. in this volume the photographs have been omitted to make room for a series of home-made drawings which represent ideas rather than events.
while the author lays no claim to great artistic excellence (being possessed of a decided leaning towards drawing as a child, he was taught to play the violin as a matter of discipline,) he prefers to make his own maps and sketches because he knows exactly what he wants to say and cannot possibly explain this meaning to his more proficient brethren in the field of art. besides, the pictures were all drawn for children and their ideas of art are very different from those of their parents.
to all teachers the author would give this advice—let your boys and girls draw their history after their own desire just as often as you have a chance. you can show a class a photograph of a greek temple or a mediaeval castle and the class will dutifully say, "yes, ma'am," and proceed to forget all about it. but make the greek temple or the roman castle the centre of an event, tell the boys to make their own picture of "the building of a temple," or "the storming of the castle," and they will stay after school-hours to finish the job. most children, before they are taught how to draw from plaster casts, can draw after a fashion, and often they can draw remarkably well. the product of their pencil may look a bit prehistoric. it may even resemble the work of certain native tribes from the upper congo. but the child is quite frequently prehistoric or upper-congoish in his or her own tastes, and expresses these primitive instincts with a most astonishing accuracy.
the main thing in teaching history, is that the pupil shall remember certain events "in their proper sequence." the experiments of many years in the children's school of new york has convinced the author that few children will ever forget what they have drawn, while very few will ever remember what they have merely read.
it is the same with the maps. give the child an ordinary conventional map with dots and lines and green seas and tell him to revaluate that geographic scene in his or her own terms. the mountains will be a bit out of gear and the cities will look astonishingly mediaeval. the outlines will be often very imperfect, but the general effect will be quite as truthful as that of our conventional maps, which ever since the days of good gerardus mercator have told a strangely erroneous story. most important of all, it will give the child a feeling of intimacy with historical and geographic facts which cannot be obtained in any other way.
neither the publishers nor the author claim that "the story of mankind" is the last word to be said upon the subject of history for children. it is an appetizer. the book tries to present the subject in such a fashion that the average child shall get a taste for history and shall ask for more.
to facilitate the work of both parents and teachers, the publishers have asked miss leonore st. john power (who knows more upon this particular subject than any one else they could discover) to compile a list of readable and instructive books.
the list was made and was duly printed.
the parents who live near our big cities will experience no difficulty in ordering these volumes from their booksellers. those who for the sake of fresh air and quiet, dwell in more remote spots, may not find it convenient to go to a book-store. in that case, boni and liveright will be happy to act as middle-man and obtain the books that are desired. they want it to be distinctly understood that they have not gone into the retail book business, but they are quite willing to do their share towards a better and more general historical education, and all orders will receive their immediate attention.
