Horn book, battledore, alphabet books: all were devised to instruct children in the letters of the alphabet and help them towards literacy. By the late 19th century, cheap colour printing processes enabled a proliferation of brightly coloured and accessible reading materials for children.

Alphabet books could be a simple match of letter and word, such as 'a-apple', or be thematically based, for instance animals or trades. Alderman's feast a new alphabet assumed some level of literacy with its lengthy rhymes and interesting associations such as 'B is Bow Church; and the Alderman dwells within sight of its walls, within sound of its bells' or 'E is the grand entertainment, tis clear, which the Alderman gave to his friends, once a-year'. Children would have delighted in the elegant dresses of the ladies, the musicians and the singer, and the hints at the food consumed - mince pies and punch.

Dean and Company, later Dean & Sons were specialists in the toy book market in the mid to late 19th century. Of a uniform size and selling for six pence toy books were especially noted for their colour content, hand-colouring in the early period and later chromolithography. Large print runs were required in order to keep the selling price low. Later other publishers, especially Frederick Warne and George Routledge, would compete with Dean for the toy book market.

The book is inscribed 'Catherine Simpson, 184?'. The Simpson family arrived in South Australia in 1849.

Simpson, Catherine

Whalley, Joyce Irene. Cobwebs to catch flies: illustrated books for the nursery and schoolroom, 1700-1900, London: Elek, 1974

Hunt, Peter (ed.) Children's literature: an illustrated history, Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1995

The Golden age of children's book illustration, [compiled by] Richard Dalby, London: O'Mara Books, 1991

State Library of South Australia: Treasures Wall. Le Petit Chaperon Rouge

SAMemory: To be a child. Wonders of a toy shop

Picturing childhood: the evolution of the illustrated children's book

Historical survey of children's literature in the British Library: 19th century works

State Library of South Australia: Mortlock Wing exhibitions. To be a child August 2004-