A CATECHISM OF FRENCH HISTORY
[PINNOCK, William].
A catechism of the history of France, containing a clear outline of all the important changes which that country has undergone from its foundation. By a friend to youth.
London, Printed by Bensley and Sons for Pinnock and Maunder, [c. 1819].
12mo in 6s, pp. 72, with engraved frontispiece; some light foxing in places, but largely clean and fresh, in recent plain wrappers, with gauze cloth spine.
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A catechism of the history of France, containing a clear outline of all the important changes which that country has undergone from its foundation. By a friend to youth.
Second edition of this much-reprinted guide to French history for British youth from the Roman conquest of Gaul to the fall of Napoleon, one of Pinnock’s many catechisms on historical and scientific subjects.
‘It is extraordinary, that, while almost every kind of knowledge has been so laudably disseminated among British youth, the history of France should have been overlooked. The magnitude of the subject seemed to defy the execution of the task, and to give a distinct account of the reigns of seventy monarchs, in the compass of a catechism, at first seemed impossible. But by confining himself to the leading events, yet at the same time scrupulously adhering to the most systematic plan in detailing them, the author hopes he has succeeded in presenting to the public a clear outline of the history of France, in language suited to the capacities of children’ (p. 2).
Following a brief introduction, Pinnock’s catechism progresses, king by king, from Pharamond to Louis XVI, including thereafter an account of the French Revolution and of Napoleon’s rise and fall, ending with his exile to St Helena in 1815, ‘where he is to remain a prisoner for life’ (p. 72). The first edition is seemingly that of c. 1816, printed by W. Clowes for Pinnock and Maunder, likewise ending with Napoleon’s exile but 84 pp., of which OCLC finds copies at the British Library and Cambridge.
OCLC records copies at Florida, Liverpool, Princeton, National Library of Ireland, and Stanford.
