Marmaduke Multiply's merry method of making minor mathematicians [manuscript]

Date of creation : [ca. 1850]

Reproduction rights are owned by State Library of South Australia. This image may be printed or saved for personal research or study. Use for any other purpose requires permission from the State Library of South Australia. To request approval, complete the Permission to publish form.

Format : Manuscript

Donated by Friends of the State Library of South Australia 1980-81

The multiplication tables are presented in verse. An exact manuscript copy, with hand-coloured illustrations.

Numerology has almost as high a priority in a child's education as the alphabet and literacy. Many counting rhymes are old and some are even considered nursery rhymes. Counting books by the nature of the subject are not particularly easy and interesting to illustrate. Marmaduke Multiply' merry method of making minor mathematicians has resolved the matter in a delightful fashion. Rhyming couplets are an aid to memorising the multiplication tables and are assisted by the lively illustrations. Many aspects of home and outdoor life are depicted with humour.

This manuscript copy, beautifully hand coloured is an exact copy of the published original of 1817. It was created about 1850 by persons unknown. Perhaps their original copy from their childhood was falling apart, perhaps it was merely an exercise in copying and colouring.

In the Children's Literature Research Collection there is an original edition, uncoloured. This is soiled and stained from the many little fingers that have turned the pages over the years.

John Harris, the publisher of Marmaduke Multiply ... was the successor to John Newbery, an 18^th century publisher of children's books. Harris took over the Newbery family business from Elizabeth Newbery widow of Francis, John Newbery's nephew. From 1805 John Harris began publishing books that were purely for fun. In 1807 he commenced his series of books 'Harris's Cabinet of Amusement and Instruction'. Marmaduke Multiply ... published during 1816-17 was one of the titles in this series and was very popular with parents and those responsible for teaching children. John Harris's list of publications in 1809 contained over 400 items, all specifically for children or their teachers. He was succeeded by his son John and the business flourished until 1843.