BAUDORY XAVIER A book for children, albo wyobrażenia ogulne y odistoczenia rzeczy, w ktorych dzieci powinny być ćwiczone [WARSAW c. 1784], in the printing house of Michal Gröll (Polish and French)

Le livre des Enfants, ou idées générales et définitions des choses, dont les Enfants doivent être instruits, pp. 60-285, Polish and parallel French. Binding new, half leather. In the piece offered, inserted copies of the title page from the 1784 edition. Including the children's lessons, the item is practically complete - card 143/144 (a fragment of lesson 18) and the final part of lesson 40 are missing (i.e. cards 283/284 and 285 - inserted in the copy from the 1784 edition). Original cards in good condition, nevertheless the paper used was of quite poor quality so there are some minor fraying, soiling, a few times the edges needed to be glued. Occasionally there are faded marginalia - nevertheless overall good condition. Edges of pages stained. At the end an exlibris.

An extremely interesting booklet depicting the content given to children (but rather of the noble or at least bourgeois state) in the process of education in the 18th century. Written in the form, today called Q&A, of questions and answers, which are grouped into individual lessons (40 in all). A dozen questions are included in each lesson, which gives, more or less, about 600 questions and answers - both in Polish and French. In addition to questions and answers related to faith (e.g., "What is eternal good?" - "There is God Himself"), it contains a host of questions about life in society, the workings of the world (e.g., "What iest fire?" - "There is a warm and dry element"; "Many iest kinds of animals?" - "Three peculiar ones, Birds that fly, animals with four legs that walk, and Fish that swim"; "What is a coin good for?" - "For buying whatever we want, for giving to the poor, or for lending to friends of ours"; "Is it decent to despise commoners?" - "No, because these are the people who serve others"), we also find there questions that are quite surprising - for example, "What iest Gorzalka?" - "There is a liquor that comes out of wine by means of fire." One of the most interesting items for those interested in the formation of educational processes during the Enlightenment. The offered item does not have a title page and it is not known exactly when it was published. It is probably a fragment of a broader (the booklet begins on page 60), unidentified edition (and there were books addressed to other audiences as well). Almost identical (as to layout and content but with different pagination) editions on recommendations for children appeared 3 times in Groll's printing house in the years: 1768/1769, 1774 and 1784.