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Accession number:
PML 83013
Published:
Noribergæ : Typis & sumptibus Michaelis Endteri, 1658
Description:
16, 309, [11] p. : ill. (wood cuts) ; 15 cm
Credit:
Purchased as the gift of Julia P. Wightman, 1978.
Notes:
Collation: octavo, )(⁸ A-V⁸.
Library's copy lacking the volvelle on A5v.
Once reported as one of three perfect copies recorded and the only one in the U.S.
PML copy: Some cropping, affecting page no. and ornaments at head of page.
Binding:
Later quarter navy roan, gilt, marbled boards; in case.
Variant Title:
Orbis sensualium pictus
Provenance:
Lathrop C. Harper, 1978; Pierpont Morgan Library, purchased as the gift of Julia P. Wightman, 1978.
Catalog Link:
Department:
The Orbis Sensualium Pictus is an early illustrated children's work authored by Czech educator John Amos Comenius. This work, which was published in Nuremberg in 1658, was the earliest illustrated children's textbook in wide circulation and among the first educational works intended for young readers as well as teachers. By the time it was first translated to English by Charles Hoole in 1659 as The World Around Us in Pictures, it had already risen to become one of the most popular titles in the genre. Originally published in German and Latin, the latter commonly taught in European schools, the book's many chapters covered a range of general educational subjects, serving as a comprehensive introduction to the early modern world. In pairing simple words and sentences with illustrations that children would have been familiar with, he introduced the idea for educators to teach students by linking sound, text, and image. Accordingly, the work is often described as the first children's picture book and a precursor of audio-visual techniques and the lexical approach to language acquisition. Incredibly rare, comparatively few copies have survived. This copy was once reported as one of three recorded "perfect" copies extant.