Extracts and Original Anecdotes for the Improvement of Youth

This is the earliest known children's book by an Irish woman published in Dublin and is notable for its efforts to entertain and amuse young readers. Mary Leadbeater (neé Shackleton) (1758-1826) was a Quaker and lived her entire life in the village of Ballitore, Co. Kildare. She corresponded with writers such as Maria Edgeworth and Edmund Burke. This first edition is held in the Pollard Collection of Children’s Books.