Narrative

The Darton Family

9. This chapbook (no date indicated) offers a good example of a side of Darton’s business other than books, and suggests the audience upon which his family built their business. The full title of the work is The Pet Lamb, in Rhythm, Intended as an Innocent Exercise for the Memory of Children, to which are Added, the Ladder of Learning and the Robin. It is only 36 pages, 17.2 × 10.5 cm, and includes copper-plate engravings (not coloured). On the back cover is an advertisement for ’CHILDREN’S BOOKS, | PUBLISHED BY | W. DARTON, 58, HOLBORN HILL.’ The price is not particularly low given the form, 1s. with plain plates, or 1s. 6d. with the plates coloured, suggesting that Darton was providing downmarket material for middle-class readers.