THE PENNY HISTORIES

Mr. Neuburg's modestly-named ""introduction"" is better identified by the subtitle--""a study of chapbooks for young readers over two centuries""--and comprises almost half the volume. Treated in some detail are their contents (drawn largely from medieval romance and English folklore); their printing and selling in London and the provinces in the 18th century; the (lesser) role of the chapbook in America, its subjects (many ""Indian Captivity"" tales), authors and publishers. With the 19th century, the penny history was abandoned by adults but remained a bastion of the fairy tale and nursery rhyme in a period of didactic literature for children. Representative forms (including A Peep at the Various Nations of the World) may be found among the seven facsimile reproductions that comprise the balance of the book.