A Very Pretty Story

When in the 1740s Jane Johnson wished to read stories to her two eldest children, she was dismayed to find little available children's fiction and no fairy tales.

Correcting this deficiency, she composed a very pretty story to tell children when they are about five or six years old.

It is a magical tale in which two children, Bab and George, very like her own Barbara and George, enter a world of pleasures full of toys and 'sugar-plumbs'.

Here, they experience enchantments and delights, like the 'fine Chariot all over Gold & Diamonds' drawn by six white lambs, which appears to carry the children off, accompanied by two angels as outriders.

The angels give the children 'pretty little Horses' with rich saddles (George's is embroidered with gold) to ride when they wish to visit the Castle of Pleasure and Delights.

The story follows the children into adulthood and even beyond into the afterlife.

Jane Johnson's relations with her own children, characterized by unusual warmth and openness, are as heart-warming as her story.

She knew exactly how to please small children and it is no surprise that her own took 'vast delight in hearing [this story] told over and over again'. This edition includes a facsimile of Jane Johnson's story in her own hand bearing her son's inscription, 'printed and bound by mama 1745', as well as a transcription and Introduction by Gillian Avery. "A Very Pretty Story" is a suitable tale for children today, as well as for adult readers.

It will appeal to anyone with an interest in children's stories, fantasy, and the social and cultural history of the eighteenth century.