While the unifying theme of this collection is ‘education’ its scope is wide-ranging reflecting the educational interests of five generations of pamphleteers. Approximately 2000 pamphlets have been accumulated between 1856, when the library opened, and 1960 although some of the items were printed before 1856.

The majority of the Victorian pamphlets are legal deposit copies, others have been donated or purchased while many of those from overseas are the result of exchange with overseas libraries.

The collection forms a valuable source not only for educational researchers but also for social and economic historians, bibliographers, and those interested in the early years of Australian printing and publishing. A catalogue with author index has recently been published and a subject index is in preparation.1 As the pamphlets have apparently been assigned to volumes on a more or less random basis this will make the collection more readily accessible.

It is not possible in this paper to give more than a slight indication of the scope and variety of the pamphlets. The bulk of them concern education in Australia, Great Britain and the United States but there are also items referring to educational issues in at least 15 other countries. Two of the more obscure items are a spelling and reading book in the Dyak language published in Batavia in the early 1840's2 and a lesson book in the ‘Language of Port Moresby, New Guinea’.3

Examination papers, timetables, handbooks, annual reports and prize lists, rules for applications to build a school house, table books, readers and text books, debates on moral and religious education, handwriting scales, Bureau of Education circulars and leaflets, school magazines, details of scholarships, and the results for the election of the Cambridge parliamentary representatives are among the types of publications included.

The earliest dated colonial publication is Henry Nairne Murray's The Schoolmaster in Van Diemen's Land. A Practical Treatise on Education, for the use of Parents and Others, not Professed Teachers (Hobart Town, Andrew Bent, 1834).4 Another early pamphlet printed at Hobart Town, Henry Thomas' The Elements of English Grammar, has been attributed with the date 1841.5

Murray's treatise provides a most valuable commentary on the problems of providing an education suitable for the needs of a young colony. As well as giving advice on teaching methods Murray suggests adaptions to the usual subjects which he considered appropriate to conditions in the Colony:

Murray comments on the achievement of the local schools, ‘the number and respectability of which have, of late years, gradually increased’, and the important part played by the Mechanics' Institution and ‘similar literary establishments’ in the education of the young colonists. However, he stresses that these are inadequate both for the needs of settlers in remote areas and for the provision of ‘opportunities of improvement in the higher parts of useful and polite learning and science’. Parents of isolated children would have no option but ‘to become the instructors of their own children, or to receive into their families private tutors for the purpose’. But to provide more advanced education Murray advises the parents in the colony to:

Murray was equally concerned that adequate provision be made for the education of the colonial girls. He lamented:

Instead, education should prepare a girl for her future role of wife and her responsibilities as a mother: on a mother lies the burden of the early cultivation and formation of character. However, the type of education Murray suggests as necessary to fit a girl for such a future is rather surprising for 1834:

Educated as an intellectual equal a woman would not only be more capable of fulfilling her parental responsibilities but the quality of the marriage would also be enhanced:

With these ends in mind, accomplishments — those mere adornments — would simply ‘serve as a relaxation after severe mental labour, and graver studies’ more on a par with those of men, in which the schoolmaster would ‘direct the attention of a girl … to science, general literature and knowledge, to a greater extent than has hitherto been done’ (p.39).

On the pamphlets bearing inscriptions may be found the names of some of Melbourne's leading citizens. John Pascoe Fawkner donated several items in January 1858 including Remarks on National Education being an Inquiry into the Right and Duty of Government to Educate the People (Edinburgh, Maclachan, Stewart ' Co., 1848), while Sir Redmond Barry donated a copy of Order for Conducting the Preliminary and Intermediate Examinations, Under 23 ' 24, Vict.C.127, SS 5, 8 ' 9, 31st January 1863 (London, Registrar of Attorneys ' Solicitors, 1863). Indicative of his intense interest in the education and welfare of children is a pamphlet once owned and donated by Frank Tate: Child Labour and Education: During the War and After (London, 1915). On July 28, 1874 the Hon. William Vale added another item to the collection: H. Lafargue's The Study of Languages, by a System Enabling the Pupil to Construe in the Language He is Learning, from the First Lesson, and Study the Theory of the Grammar by Practice (Melbourne, R. T. Clarke, 1857).

Local schoolmasters, mistresses and inspectors are among the authors. Of the less well known schoolmasters, Henry Edelman of the Kingston Common School, No. 786, St. Andrew's, Victoria, has contributed two items: Correspondence between Dr Morrell (the grammarian) and Henry Edelman on Grammar and Analysis (Melbourne, Mason, Firth ' McCutcheon, 1871);6 and School History of Peter the Great, Czar of Russia (Melbourne, F. Watmuff, 1871). R. E. Jenkins dedicated his essay on The Schoolmaster (Melbourne, Melville ' Mullen, 1916) to his former pupils at the Malvern Grammar School.

Inspector A. B. Orlebar provided Victorian teachers with Models for Slate Writing in Elementary Schools with Suggestions for Their Use (Melbourne, F. F. Bailliere, 1862). Also included is one of Inspector James Bonwick's many useful texts. Bonwick early realized the need to adapt school texts to the Australian context as may be seen in his Geography of Australia and New Zealand (Melbourne, William Clarke, 1855).

The citizens of Victoria showed their interest in education both by personal support in the matter of appointments and by entry into public debate. Ferdinand von Mueller wrote glowingly in support of Mr. W. Thompson's suitability for the position of Lecturer on Materia Medica at Melbourne University:

Many reverend gentlemen defended the role of the Church in the education of Victoria's children. The Rev. Fr. S. J. O'Malley presented the ‘Claim of the Catholic Denomination’:

The Rev. A. M. Moore agreed in principle with the Catholic stance that instruction which did not include the study of the Bible could not properly be termed ‘education’:

Opponents of denominational education were equally vocal though at times the arguments were more flamboyant than logical. ‘J.B.A.’ referred to such ‘reverend supporters and trumpeters’ as ‘unctuous catspaws in a financial speculation’ who paraded ‘our holy religion’ to sanctify their financial ventures.10 He slated ‘Speech Days’ as an exercise in advertising and likened the awarding of prizes to the provision of stimulants:

Alternatively, he implied that the teachers in the Church schools must be incompetent as prize giving was the resort of the inadequate teacher:

While many public memories — histories of educational institutions and systems — have been included, there are few personal reminiscences of the acquisition of knowledge. One personal item indicates the fees incurred by Master Alexander Smith while at the Church of England Grammar School, St. Kilda Road:11

Fee for quarter ending April 7	£5	5	0
Stationery	5	0
Books Crombie 8/- Enc 4/-	12	0
Drawing	2	2	0
Materials for ditto and mounting bds	9	3
Music	3	3	0
	£11	16	3

The fees were entered by the Rev. J. E. Bromby and payment receipted by his signature.

In The Education of An Australian, E. H. Burgmann,12 Bishop of Goulburn, recalls his early education at Koppin Yarratt, a small town on the Lansdowne River on the north coast of New South Wales. He admits that while in school he was ‘more or less pleasantly imprisoned’ but he deplores the ‘unimaginative nature of the curriculum by which we were bound’ and the fact that ‘For the most part the work in school was foreign to our real interests and experiences’ (p.6). Set in an area ‘barely touched by modern man’, the school was surrounded by mountain ranges, rocky cliffs and near jungle conditions where wild animals and bird life abounded. Yet no lessons in natural science were given:

The gradual adaptation of the curriculum in response to pleas such as Burgmann's may be seen in the Readers included in the collection. In 1861 Edward Wickes, Secretary of the Central Board of Education in Adelaide, republished A Catechism of the Rudiments of Knowledge specially adapted for Australian Beginners in Schools and Families.13 He stressed that ‘A First or Mother's Catechism and an Elementary Geography specially for our use are necessities of our position as inhabitants of the Southern Hemisphere. However few concessions were made either to the particular needs, or the age, of ‘Australian beginners’. Reflecting the Board's belief that religion and education were inseparable, the content is largely religious. It begins with ‘First Lines of Religion’ and the question ‘Who made the world?’ and concludes by asking ‘What are the leading moral duties inculcated in the Holy Scriptures?’ In between the matters of number, time, money, the seasons, animals, plants, arithmetic, geography, history, government and laws, geometry, astronomy, theology, and other sciences and arts are dealt with, all by the question and answer method:

Among the interminable queries regarding products, town and rivers, a few Australian entries may be found.

Later Readers show greater adaption to the Australian context both as a response to the desire to learn about one's own country and as a means of fostering patriotism.

Copies of the Specimen Articles for the Special Edition of the Second Reading Book of the Irish National Board of Education, Revised and Adapted for the Use of Schools in Australia, Tasmania and New Zealand, by one of Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools (Dublin, Alexander Thom, [1875]) are included, as are specimens of the Third and Fourth Readers14 and a copy of the Third Reader as accepted for use in Victorian schools.15 Among the specimens for the Second Reading Book are short descriptions of ‘The Lyre Bird or Native Pheasant’, ‘The Platypus or Duck-Bill’ and ‘The Wedge-tailed Eagle or Eagle-hawk’. For this last item the vocabulary to be mastered by the second grade included:

The stories stressed not the familiarity of the children's environment but its difference from English conditions, its harshness and potential for danger. As well as reading of the plight of Jane Duff and her brothers as they wandered for eight days in the bush near Horsham, the children had impressed upon them the horror of Black Thursday — the tragic bush fires on the 6th Feb., 1851:

The content of such Readers contrasts sharply with that of the final item in the collection in which John and Betty ‘first showed their insipid smiles in the infant rooms of the state schools’.16 While Betty may have ran and jumped and skipped with John, her doll and pram indicate the hidden curriculum of education for her future role of mother.

For researchers interested in the education of girls and women there are at least sixty relevant items. These include reports of misconduct against a woman teacher, debates as to the desirability of providing education for lower class girls, the provision of domestic education, letters written by Lady Medical Students in Madras, and the papers for the University of Cambridge's Examination of Women. The many prospectuses and catalogues for Young Ladies Colleges both in Australia and overseas indicate the contrasting expectations as to what constituted an appropriate education for young ladies.

The plain-spoken title of the Abbott Female Academy, Andover, Mass., reflects the school's concern to provide a sound ‘Course of Study’.17 The ‘Basic English Course’, which was designed to occupy four years, consisted of Arithmetic, Algebra, Geometry, Geography, Geography of the Heavens, Mythology, Ancient, Modern and Church History, Botany, Geology, Astronomy, Chemistry, Zoology, Natural Philosophy, Physiology, History of the English Language, Study of the English Language and Literature and Criticism of Select Authors, Elements of Criticism, Rhetoric, Ethics, Psychology, and History of Art. As well the girls might choose from the equally weighty Latin, French and German Courses and the usual accomplishments were provided as extras. The academy's desire to uphold academic standards is indicated by the statement that:

It is of interest to note that principals prior to Miss Hassaltine were all males.

By contrast, the Lasell Seminary for Young Women at Auburndale, Mass., apparently gave scant attention to academic studies.18 The Rev. H. N. Hudson gave ‘invaluable’ weekly classes in Shakespeare and Wordsworth and there was a Course of General Lectures, ‘one every two or three weeks’. There were, however, ‘Regular Courses in Music’ and another ‘valuable feature’ was ‘the unusual attention given to Penmanship, Free-Hand Drawing and Vocal Music.’ The guiding philosophy of the seminary was stated as follows:

Parallels to these proposals for girls' education may be found in the prospectuses for young ladies' establishments in Melbourne. Mr and Mrs Vieusseux, of the Ladies College, Melbourne, stated that their ‘Curriculum of study for the Senior Division attains the standard for the Matriculation Examination at the Melbourne University’19 while Mrs Wigmore, of Leigh House School, stressed that:

One Australian critic of girls' education may well have approved of the Lasell Seminary's philosophy of‘home care and home training’. Mr R. Thatcher, writing in The Australian School Review and Educational Advertiser, slates the ‘superficial nature of the scholastic instruction imparted at [the] polite and fashionable seminaries’ which provide only ‘tinsel-like elegance and prurient cramming with useless accomplishments’.21 But, according to Mr Thatcher, improvement did not lie in the implementation of a ‘curriculum’:

How these graces are to be acquired Mr Thatcher does not elaborate but they must be aligned with the ‘acquirement of a knowledge of the details of housekeeping and the management of a household’ for ‘there is such a duty devolving upon young ladies as serving their generation’ by becoming ‘wives of sensible, reasoning, comfort-loving men’ (p.41).

Not all articles in The Australian School Review were of this ilk. It provided news regarding all facets of education from all states, the Pacific region and Great Britain: job information, book reviews, obituaries and advice to further the teacher's knowledge and professional skill. Also included were reports of successful scholars such as Florence Ida Smith from South Australia who:

Florence would scarcely have been approved by Mr Thatcher as a potential ‘help-meet’.

Marcus Clarke's little known articles on ‘Australian Worthies’ were ‘written expressly’ for The Australian School Review. No. I, ‘William Dampier’, appeared in Vol. I, No. 4, September 1873 while No. II, ‘Abel Jansen Tasman’, followed in the October/ November and December issues. His opening remark may arouse a feeling of deja vu in today's historians:

A substantial number of pamphlets relate to the theme of ‘Education and War’. These refer to the effects of war both on teachers and students and on educational systems; to the role of education as a weapon during war; and to its role in post-war reconstruction. The cost of evacuating whole schools23 and the effects of evacuation both on the evacuees and the reception schools24 are discussed in the British context. So, too, is the problem of war-time diet in boarding schools.25 Besides the difficulties of providing food, the maintenance of a satisfactory diet involved the re-education of staff and children to utilize those foodstuffs readily available in war-time and to minimise waste. Recipes were provided to encourage cooks to stretch sugar rations and include more vegetables in school meals.

Several pamphlets from the United States show a ready acceptance of the use of schools and kindergartens as disseminators of propaganda.

Faced with large numbers of European immigrants the American kindergartener during World War I was exhorted to be active in the Americanization of kindergarten children and, through them, their potentially treacherous parents who may have come ‘with false ideas and dangerous doctrines’:

In an endeavour to promote patriotism and the more efficient utilization of education resources the following unflattering summary of American inefficiency was circulated by the Bureau of Education:27

Appended to this table were summaries of the efficiencies of the other cities compared with ‘American inefficiency’ and the exhortation ‘eliminate false ideals of Germany and add to its efficiency the ideals of American democracy’.

Recalling Cromwell's adage that ‘The best soldier is he who knows what he fights for’, Sir John Latham stressed the necessity for better education as part of Australia's defence:

The education of Australian service personnel continued both during and after war. Syllabuses from the A.I.F. Education Service show the work of the Australian Corps Central School in France29 while a pamphlet issued by the Commonwealth Department of Labour and National Service concerns the ‘educational rehabilitation’ of service men and women.30 Such rehabilitation referred to both mental and physical education31 as well as training for re-entry into the peace-time work force32 including the possibility of entering the teaching profession.33

A UNESCO publication, The Teacher and the Post-War Child in War Devastated Countries,34 notes the factors responsible for mental and emotional disturbance among thousands of European children and the problems which faced their teachers in trying to restore to their lives at least the ‘semblance of normal living’:

Two of the features mentioned in relation to American educational inefficiency during World War I are treated more fully in other pamphlets: the employment of English children in war-work; and the exploitation of child labour in the United States.

Despite the school-attendance provisions of the Education Acts it was estimated that there were ‘considerably more than half a million children under 14 years of age who were employed as wage-earners in the United Kingdom’35 where Bye-Laws passed by local authorities allowed children aged 11–13 to be employed in factories, mines and agriculture. This situation was exacerbated by war-time labour demands particularly for agricultural workers when Farmers' Associations requested further relaxation of the Bye-Laws on the grounds that:

The national Child Labour Committee in the United States had earlier expressed similar concern in their publication Child Workers in the Tenements.36 Nominally these children, aged 2–14, attended school and only worked after school but often until 9–10 p.m. Working often in filthy, damp conditions they made clothing, artificial flowers, brushes, dolls, or, despite such health problems as tuberculosis, picked over nuts to remove shells and debris. The pamphlet presents a series of photos; a typical caption reads as follows:

While these pamphlets deal with the deliberate exploitation of children one educational experiment seems equally bizarre. The pamphlet Open Air Schools37 promotes the principle of lessons in out-door conditions as a remedy for sickly or tubercular children. It includes photos of such summer activities as gardening, games and taking measurements of trees and fences. But there are winter pictures too of children sitting on snowy roof tops, on the open deck of a school ship or in an open-air classroom with a roof but no walls. Each is swaddled from top to toe in a ‘sittingout-bag’ — a cross between a heavy woollen sleeping bag and a cloak; their efficacy is claimed thus:

Not all child workers were exploited at the cost of their education although few had mentors as considerate and encouraging as Mr J. Wilson of Price's Patent Candle Company.38 Boys working at this candle factory and boys from the surrounding district had the opportunity to attend free schools provided at the factory by Mr Wilson. He explains that:

At first lessons were on the basis of self-help but when the boys' progress and enthusiasm ‘exhausted all the powers of instruction which the school possessed’ more formal arrangements were made. In 1848 Mr Wilson renovated a section of the factory for use as a schoolroom. This enabled the establishment of a day school for the younger boys when not required in the factory as well as the provision of one and a half hours schooling, four nights a week, for those factory hands who wished to avail themselves of the opportunity.

Labour requirements flucuated considerably in the factory yet the work, when available, required skill and care. As the day school grew to take boys from outside the factory it provided a reservoir of young labourers of known character who passed:

Attendance at the schools was voluntary but those who did attend were encouraged to continue through the institution of privileges for the members of the school — tea parties and summer excursions.

In the summer of 1849 classes were suspended in response to a cholera epidemic. But, after having consulted the best medical advice as to how their boys could be protected, indoor classes were replaced by cricket lessons of an evening to encourage the boys to take fresh air and exercise as preventives. Gardens were established near the cricket field as a further incentive to independence and exercise.

All these innovations were financed by Mr Wilson personally — £3289 over four years. His account of the schools was written at the behest of the Directors of the candle factory who consequently recommended to the shareholders that:

Inasmuch as the children employed in the factories would, but for schools specially adapted to factory hours, be prevented from obtaining any education at all… it is the clear duty of the Company to continue the present schools, and so to provide for the intellectual and moral welfare of those by whose labours every shareholder profits (p.3).

An educational venture which some teachers may have found daunting was the Alaska Reindeer Service. Teachers in charge of schools in districts affected by the reindeer industry found themselves ‘ex officio local superintendents of the reindeers in the vicinity of their schools’. The Report on the Education of the Natives of Alaska and the Reindeer Service39 stated that:

One final pamphlet must be mentioned. Four anonymous pages, undated but enigmatically titled Bye and Bye.41 It depicts scenes from the life of a humble Melbourne family and their reclamation from poverty and moral degradation through the spiritual balm experienced by visiting the Melbourne Picture Gallery and the newly opened ‘people's Library’. Whether or not today's librarians see their role as the promotion of moral welfare it is doubtful that the researchers who now use the State Library either kneel with ‘heart overflowing with gratitude sincere’ that the library is open on Sunday afternoon or: are not unmindful of Him who caused all things to work together for good, and silently … pray that the trustees of our noble Institutions will never have cause to regret the action they took, which proved under God's guidance such an inestimable blessing to them and theirs, and … trust that it may be also the means of making very many of their wandering brethren turn from that path which can only end in sin, degradation and death.