The Victorian Nursery Companion: A Posy for Parents, a Keepsake for Baby [Hardcover]

Sarah Ban Breathnach (Author)

Book Description

Combines children's poetry with affectionate glimpses into the tradition, ritual, and lore of life for babies in Victorian times and includes illustrations from antique children's books, period photographs, and ten blank journal pages. 35,000 first printing.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 111 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster (May 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0671741217
• ISBN-13: 978-0671741211
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,258,536 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A sweet, nostalgic view of childhood captured., September 21, 1999

By 

K. Theis (Denver, Colorado) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Victorian Nursery Companion: A Posy for Parents, a Keepsake for Baby (Hardcover)

I am only sorry that I discovered Ms Ban Breathnach's Victorian works after they were out-of-print. As a mother of 2 little children, this would have been a wonderful keepsake. I did read the book which I borrowed from the library and was sad to give it up! I had grand plans of giving this to all new mothers, only to have my hopes dashed. This book is so sweet and captured my heart. I always thought of Victorian children as being appreciated only when seen and not heard. Alas, the 1890's were not that different from the 1990's we have much in common with our great-grandmothers...something we may not even have known. The publisher needs to address the needs of the public and reprint this book.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars ANOTHER ABSOLUTE GEM OUT OF PRINT - HOW SAD., June 28, 2009

By 

D. Blankenship (The Ozarks) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Victorian Nursery Companion: A Posy for Parents, a Keepsake for Baby (Hardcover)

If you are a new parent or about to become one, get a nice copy of this baby keepsake book if at all possible! If you like babies and have any inclination toward the Victorian Era, then this work is an absolute treasure. To be honest, I stumbled upon this work in a very large lot of books I purchased at auction and while sorting those books, ran across a copy. Of the dozens and dozens of "baby books" I have seen, scanned and dealt with over the years, this has to be the most charming by far.

The illustrations, which consist of reproductions of Victorian Era art, pictures, paintings, prints, actual photographs; all in color for the most part, are worth the price of the book. The text consists of wisdom and lore from the Victorian period concerning babies. It addresses the care, feeding, nurturing, and dress, furniture, home life, nursery, nursery maids, pets, the parental relationships with the child and so much more. Inserted among this wonderful information are poems, nursery rhymes, commentary on attitudes (there is a wonderful two paragraph mini-essay on Queen Victoria's influence, which was great, on baby care, dressing at attitudes).

Toys are addressed as well as pets. Relationships between siblings and mother and father abound. Now being a keepsake for babies, there are a number of pages devoting space to record your own child's progress, or for making notes of your own observations.

This is one baby book at that is a special treat and to be honest, it is just as interesting to read by those with no children as for those who have wee ones about.

If you can lay your hands on a copy of this one, snatch it up. It is a shame this one is no longer in print as it is one of the better, if not the best, this genre has to offer.

I truly wish I had had this one when our children were infants over 40 years ago. Like another reviewer here, I was struck with the fact that despite what we have been told, Victorian attitude toward children was not all that different from ours and times have really not changed all that much.