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The History of Mary Wood, the House-Maid, or, The Danger of False Excuses
image id: ps_cps_cd5_065

Hannah More (1745–1833)
The History of Mary Wood, the House-Maid, or, The Danger of False Excuses
Smithfield [London]: J. Evans and Sons: J. Hatchard; Bath: J. Binns, ca. 1798
NYPL, The Carl H. Pforzheimer Collection of Shelley and His Circle

Hannah More, an Evangelical Christian abolitionist and philanthropist, was indefatigable in her efforts to encourage docility and obedience among the poor. Many items from her long series of Cheap Repository Tracts, made to be given away or sold very cheaply, address specific problems—as here, with “false excuses”—in order to teach servants and other members of the laboring classes how to behave.

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