Winter evenings, or, tales of travellers

London: printed for Darton, Harvey, and Darton, 1819. First edition, 4 volumes, small 12mo (approx. 5½" x 3¾"), each volume with an engraved frontispiece; contemporary and likely original red morocco-backed blue speckled paper-covered boards, gilt fillets and gilt lettering on spines; a very good, sound, and clean set. This copy with the ownership signature in each volume of "C. H. Cruttwell / Juvenile Library" in each volume. An interesting compendium for the youngsters, a retelling of events in dialogue form, over the course of 20 evenings of instruction, of the famous voyages and travels of the day, including Phipp's Voyage to the North Pole, Chappel's Account of a Voyage to Hudson's Bay, M'Leod's Voyage of the Alceste to China, Ulloa's Journey Across the Andes, Mackenzie's Travels in Iceland, and Bligh's Voyage to the South Sea, and a dozen or so others. Maria Hack (née Barton, 1777-1844) was an English writer of educational books for children. A Quaker, she was involved in a theological controversy with the Quakers, which led to her joining the Anglican Church. Her daughter, Margaret Emily (1814-1886) also wrote educational books for children, and married Thomas Gates Darton of Darton and Harvey, the publisher of a number of Maria's books, including this one. Winter Evenings, among her more popular works, was published in three other editions between 1840 and 1857, the last in New York.