The latest release from Smidgen Press is a “centenary edition” of English educator Charlotte Mason’s final work. In our edition of An Essay Towards a Philosophy of Education, we have added two sections to create a volume that has never before been printed all together.
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Two lost chapters from Miss Mason herself
In her well-known work as a whole, Mason spells out her view of the infinite possibilities of the child, that they are born persons with a hunger for knowledge and a need for the sustenance of great ideas. Throughout, she makes the passionate plea that the education she proposed is for all.
As referenced in our last post, the two items we’ve added to this edition are a chapter in Part III, which Miss Mason labeled “Two Educational Ideals,” and an Appendix called “Some Impressions of the Ambleside Method.”
So where did these chapters come from? And are we being presumptuous in adding to an already well-established work?
The “Some Impressions of the Ambleside Method” addition
We have more details in our edition’s first foreword by Dr. Deani Van Pelt of the Charlotte Mason Institute, but this first section we decided to add comes down to a short note–parenthetical, almost–hinting at the book’s original content plans.
This note falls at the end of the original table of contents, indicating two portions were cut. Here is a snippet of what Dr. Van Pelt notes in her foreword:
It was the first part of the title that caught my attention at that time because it called Mason’s approach to education “The Ambleside Method”, a label I’d not seen used elsewhere in her writings. It was only later that I realized, this pamphlet, “Some Impressions of the Ambleside Method”, was indeed the missing section B. …
This “section B” Dr. Van Pelt refers to was called a “discussion of the method,” with a note that it would be released as a pamphlet. Later printings changed the wording, still noting the omission (along with a “section A,” test answers), but later notes supplied other items and did not mention a pamphlet about the “method.”
As noted in that first printing, the section was published separately as a pamphlet entitled “Some Impressions of the Ambleside Method.” But with it being separated from the larger book, its original purpose seems to have been lost, with one copy of this 59-page booklet in Dr. Van Pelt’s possession, and one other at The Armitt Museum and Library, where Mason’s belongings, notes, and records are kept.
After chatting with Dr. Van Pelt (as relayed in our previous post), we decided the addition of this section would be an incredible way to honor Mason’s work and provide a more complete vision of Mason’s Philosophy of Education.
And what about the other added chapter? “Two Educational Ideals”?
This second addition is one that came from a blessing in disguise. Our small team had a number of health troubles and family emergencies throughout the spring and summer, so our initial aim of an autumn 2022 release simply didn’t happen.
But, in late September 2022, Charlotte Mason Poetry (CMP) posted something on Instagram that made us glad for the delays. Art Middlekauff wrote this:
“To be honest, I thought I had already seen everything Charlotte Mason had ever written. After we discovered the handwritten manuscripts of Mason’s unpublished seventh volume of poetry, I thought there was nothing left to find. …
That’s why my heart raced and my breath failed as I read the words: “By Charlotte M. Mason,” … over a substantial, 19-page, detailed essay. What on earth is this?
My investigation revealed a shocking truth. Volume 6 — A Philosophy of Education — was prepared for publication by trustees after Mason’s death. Our volume ends with a third section that contains a single chapter entitled “Too Wide a Mesh.” It turns out Mason didn’t want it that way. She had intended for another chapter to follow that.
In this article transcribed at Charlotte Mason Poetry, Mason put together an extended contrast of the thoughts of Jean-Jacques Rousseau with the principles of John Milton. We were excited to read Mason’s notes for how she planned to name and include this chapter.
We connected with Mr. Middlekauff, who in turn connected us with the CMP transcription team. They agreed for us to use their transcription to complete the third section within our Philosophy project, and Mr. Middlekauff contributed the second foreword for our growing book project.
What an exciting outcome after such frustrating (but divinely known) delays on our part.
Interesting side quests: the “Ambleside Method” and the mining districts
In the “Some Impressions” appendix, Mason’s honesty at including the glowing reviews, the mostly-good reports, as well as the areas where “the method” was less successful, was a fascinating read. An overwhelming response seems to be surprise that the children did better than the school staff expected of them. (Aren’t children just like that? Give them opportunities!)
One headmaster reports, on p. 543 of our edition, that, “greatly to my astonishment, scholars I thought to be almost hopeless are in many cases the most exact and fluent narrators. Because of the oral work the scholars have enlarged their vocabularies, can express their ideas more exactly, and exercise a greater amount of intelligence in answering problems and questions based upon the work studied.”
Another teacher is recorded as saying, “It is surprising how the children will link up one subject with another, and it is usually a sensible connection. … The girls are certainly learning to connect and apply the information which they get from the books, and have at times expressed surprise that one book throws light on the subject matter of a different book. Here are the beginnings of an appreciation of wide reading which broadens one’s outlook on life.” (p. 548)
But when we were working on the transcription and proofread of this text, a small section about students who struggled stood out:
In the mining district there are difficulties. “Many of the children,” says the Head Mistress of Z., “come from homes where the Forest dialect is more often spoken than English. These need a rather liberal and repeated explanation of unusual words or phrases. . . . Necessarily our progress is slow.” (p. 546)
The two comments only mention “the Forest dialect” and “the Forest vernacular,” which in today’s research points toward the Forest of Dean, a region in western England just across the river from Wales.
We’ve found it fascinating to read interviews and listen through the few recordings we’ve found, as the lilt in the dialect is enchanting to tune the ear to. It’s good to see that efforts have been made to preserve the history of a place like the Forest of Dean that clung so tightly to community. This raises the question: What is needed to teach children well, in a manner they understand and relate to, in a way that benefits the community without stripping away their identity?
(This question is being addressed by a number of families who want to follow Charlotte Mason in their own culture. And that’s a post for another day.)
While many could quickly name “American English” vs. “British English,” we sometimes forget–or perhaps have never known–how many “Englishes” are recognized around the world. Mason’s report on the issues certainly seems to be precisely the trouble, where the English of the teachers sent to the mining area was not truly the same language to the local community.
In case you, too, are interested in this tiny facet of the reports shared by Mason, here are some things you can both read and hear with regard to the Forest of Dean and its mining history, agriculture, and general community life. (If you find other resources, we’d love you to send them or tag us on social media!)
- The Forest of Dean, and interviews of locals (audio with photos)
- Forest dialect English–example poem
- Modern writeup looking at pronunciation history
The very first video we found is called “Happy is the Eye” — but a couple days before this blog post release, the video portion on this page began showing as unavailable. We’re linking it anyway in case it comes back.
(On a somewhat related note … we’re actively looking into offering translations and multilingual resources. We’ll have more information in the weeks ahead. Join our newsletter if you want to be the first to get updates on our behind-the-scenes info.)
And, storytime (the last thing) — a trip to pick up a precious first edition!
If you follow Smidgen Press on Facebook or Instagram, you’ll have seen pics and read this story before — but our founder (Jody Skinner) had quite the serendipitous literary adventure during this book process.
After our discussion and agreeing to write a foreword, Dr. Van Pelt generously offered the use of her 1925 first edition copy of Mason’s Essay towards a Philosophy of Education. (First. Edition. You read that right!)
We quickly decided the mail was NOT the vehicle for such a precious book! It took a few minutes of pondering, and we nearly gave up the idea of a handoff … but Dr. Van Pelt just so happened to be coming from Canada to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania a few weeks hence … and Jody just so happened to be living less than three hours south.
So that’s how Jody ended up picking up a lovely Canadian traveler from the Philadelphia airport, taking her to her hotel, introducing her to a Chili’s restaurant, and enjoying a rather random display of typewriters in the Notary Hotel, which felt like a nice touch … a delightful whirlwind of a couple hours capped off with the handoff of some marvelous literature.
And what an experience. Hefting that first edition gave us the courage to “go big” on our reprint. That original is nearly 6”x9” (as is our edition), and it’s that old, super-thick paper, so it’s sturdy like you wouldn’t believe (which ours is just regular paper, sorry). Editions beginning with the 1925 printing are all the same text size, but as the years went by the margins were gradually reduced, presumably to conserve paper. We knew we wanted substantial margins for our edition, and since we were going back to the raw text with an all-new transcription, we decided readers would probably appreciate having the text a wee bit larger. So, it’s typeset in a 13pt font.
Oh. And did we mention we kept the original page numbers as running “sidenotes”? So even with new page numbers and extras for this Charlotte Mason centenary year, our edition still works together with all the resources that specify page numbers for various topics.
Same Philosophy, fresh look.
We are so pleased with how this edition turned out. What an honor to be part of a belated vision-come-true. We hope you will love it, too.
Obviously, Mason had a grand idea of what she wanted for this volume to be—and it most certainly is a great work. But her health was failing her as her mind sped ahead, so what she could not do in her lifetime, and what the trustees could not bring to completion, we are excited to present to today’s readers … two chapters closer to what Charlotte Mason envisioned.
See all our editions:
Credit to JacQueline Roe, Deani Van Pelt, Art Middlekauff, and Jody Skinner for contributions to this post. Contact us at hello@smidgenpress.com with any questions or comments.
