Special Collections and Archives
At CCCU, we have a little-known but extremely interesting collection of historical children’s fiction. This collection contains some beautiful examples of adventure stories, mystery stories, annuals and school stories – mostly from the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
The collection was first established shortly after the founding of the Canterbury Christ Church College (which later became CCCU) in 1962.
While fiction for children and young adults possibly now contains more “death and drink” than in 1976, the study of historical children’s and young adult fiction is still very relevant, especially in terms of trying to improve diversity in works for children (and adults). Similarly, the artwork in children’s and young adult fiction is well worth looking at in terms of appreciating the art itself, but also as a study of how people, places and events have been and are represented in fiction and other publications for children and young adults over time.
The collection is richest in books from the late nineteenth century (post-1880), and the most recent publication (found so far) is a book from 1972. The collection can be divided up into several areas (although they are in purely alphabetical order of author’s surname on the shelves):
Children’s historical fiction from the Victorian era
From the tales of Charlotte Yonge, to Captain Frederick Marryat’s novel The Children of the New Forest set in the English Civil War, children’s historical fiction was burgeoning during the Victorian era. Inspired by the past, writers sought to educate as well as entertain, with sometimes turgid or moralistic accounts of the heroic deeds of our forebears. Unlike modern children’s authors such as Terry Deary who have focused on the humorous and sometimes grisly events of the past, the Victorian writers delighted or dismayed their readers with the derring-dos of knights, captains and adventurers, and there are plenty of examples of this type of fiction in the collection.
Victorian/early-20th century fantasy novels for children and young adults
There are several works by early fantasy fiction writers, such as George MacDonald (1824-1905) in the collection. He was a Scottish author, poet and Christian minister, and apart from being well-known in his own right, is famous for his influence on later writers such as C. S. Lewis, W. H. Auden, and J. R. R. Tolkien.
Early 20th century children’s annuals
The popularity of children’s annuals as a means of educating and entertaining was at its height in the 1930s, although many declined as a result of wartime rationing of paper in the 1940s. The Boy’s Own Paper was introduced in 1879 to encourage children to read but also to instill Christian values. Contributors included Sir Arthur Conan-Doyle, Lord Robert Baden-Powell, Jules Verne and occasional contributors such as Sir Patrick Moore.
School stories
The collection includes some late nineteenth century and early twentieth century school stories which make interesting reading.
Mystery and adventure stories
As you would expect there are many books in the collection that deal with the lives of children and young people in the late nineteenth century through to the 1930s. These are usually adventure and/or mystery stories, and could be seen as the precursors to series such as Enid Blyton’s Famous Five stories, which began to appear in the early 1940s. There are also several examples of books from series of school stories, such as those by Angela Brazil and Elsie J. Oxenham.
The titles can be found on LibrarySearch
Contents: Illustrated books, annuals and children's periodicals
Period: 19th century
Subjects: adventure, school stories, religion, history, travel