Continue with 'The Elephant's Trunk' a chapter from Village Science
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The Society for the Promotion of Christian Knowledge, which traces its roots back to 1698, published educational material actively since its origin. In 1832, however, 'the Society the vital decision to no longer restrict itself to religious literature, and set up a Committee of Education and General Literature its general list.' Thomas Bray, the founder, believed passionately in the power of the printed word and from its second meeting onwards the Society began commissioning tracts and pamphlets, something it has continued ever since, making it the third oldest publishing house still operating in England today (only the Oxford and Cambridge University Presses have been in existence longer). Throughout the eighteenth century
SPCK was by far the largest producer of Christian literature in Britain. The range of its
output was considerable - from pamphlets aimed at specific groups such as farmers,
prisoners, soldiers, seamen, servants and slave- owners, exhorting them to improve their
way of life, to more general works on subjects such as baptism, confirmation, Holy
Communion, the Prayer Book and private devotion. It has been estimated that SPCK has produced over twenty thousand titles during its three centuries of publishing. |