The Parent's Assistant by Maria Edgeworth - 1869: Stories for Children

"The Parent's Assistant" - or, Stories for Children by Maria Edgeworth. 1869; Allen Brothers; New York. Complete in one volume. The book features illustrations throughout, including some that are full-page. There are 17 short stories in all - please see the photos for the complete list of contents.

From the Preface: "To prevent precepts of morality from tiring the ear and the mind, it was necessary to make the Stories, in which they are introduced, in some measure dramatic; to keep alive hope, and fear, and curiosity, by some degree of intricacy. At the same time care has been taken to avoid inflaming the imagination, or exciting a restless spirit of adventure, by exhibiting false views of life, and creating hopes, which, in the ordinary course of things, cannot be realized."

Condition:
Clean covers and spine with no stains; bright gilt on the spine. Cloth tears at the corners, and at the top/bottom edges of the spine. Tight binding with no loose pages. There is a cluster of pages at the center of the book (pages 243-262) that are loose and have separated from the top and bottom strings of the binding (though they are still attached at the 3 middle strings). Consistent foxing to the pages throughout the book. The front end paper has an old inscription written in pencil and an address label affixed at the top.