Cobwebs to Catch Flies is a children's book by Ellenor Fenn

Ellenor Fenn

Ellenor Fenn was a prolific 18th-century writer of children's books.-Early life:Fenn was born on 12 March 1743/44 in Westhorpe, Suffolk to Sheppard and Susanna Frere. John Frere was her elder brother and John Hookham Frere her nephew. In 1766 she married the antiquarian John Fenn and moved with...

, originally anonymous, but later editions were advertised as being by Mrs Teachwell or "Mrs Lovechild". It was a reading primer

Primer (textbook)

A primer is a first textbook for teaching of reading, such as an alphabet book or basal reader. The word also is used more broadly to refer to any book that presents the most basic elements of a subject....

 and was one of the first books to differentiate between reading age groups, and which was widely used until the 1890s.

Description

The work was originally published in two volumes – one for children from three to five years, and the second for those from five and eight, but later editions combined them into one. It consisted of a series of short, illustrated dialogues between children, teaching basic reading skills. It was an innovative book in several respects as it focused on the child reader’s own experience and interests, including toys, pets, games, visits to the fair etc., and was one of the first books to differentiate between reading age groups; each volume became progressively more difficult as the child progressed. The early editions were printed in large types containing charming woodcut

Woodcut

Woodcut—occasionally known as xylography—is a relief printing artistic technique in printmaking in which an image is carved into the surface of a block of wood, with the printing parts remaining level with the surface while the non-printing parts are removed, typically with gouges...

 illustrations, and each volume had an engraved frontispiece

Book frontispiece

A frontispiece is a decorative illustration facing a book's title page. The frontispiece is the verso opposite the recto title page. Elaborate engraved frontispieces were in frequent use, especially in Bibles and in scholarly books, and many are masterpieces of engraving...

 seeking to represent the content of the stories.

Background

The book was conceived as a component part of the author’s elaborate and very expensive teaching scheme known as 'A set of toys', and copies were provided with the scheme, but Mrs. Fenn's publisher John Marshall

John Marshall (publisher)

John Marshall was a London publisher who specialized in children's literature, chapbooks, educational games and teaching schemes. He described himself as 'The Children's Printer' and referred to children as his 'young friends' He was the preeminent children's book publisher in England from about...

 realized that the book might also be successful in its own right. It proved to be Marshall's most profitable title and he produced many undated editions, keeping the title constantly in print until about 1815. During this period the illustrations became progressively more worn and the work more carelessly printed.

Later editions

Marshall assigned the copyright to Baldwin, Cradock, & Joy, who published new editions throughout the 1820s and 1830s, improving production standards and commissioning new versions of the illustrations.

The Dublin printer John Rice pirated the work in 1794, and in 1799 Marshall’s rival, Elizabeth Newbery, published an un-illustrated French language version. Copies of the original edition were exported to the USA where they were copied in editions published in Philadelphia by Johnson & Warner, (1813 and 1814), in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

 by E. J. Coale, (1825), in New York

New York

New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 by Mahlon Day, (between 1832 and 1837), and in New York and Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 by C.S. and J.H. Francis in 1851.

Meanwhile, in the Britain, Darton

Darton

Darton is a village in the Metropolitan Borough of Barnsley , on the border with West Yorkshire. According to the 2001 UK census, it has a population of approximately 14,927...

 and Co published several editions between 1842 and 1858, and the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge (SPCK) others between 1844 and 1860, which were adapted to include a religious message. Lockwood and Co. took over the publication in 1862. An edition with a coloured lithographic frontispiece was jointly published by Frederick Warne

Frederick Warne & Co

Frederick Warne & Co was a British publishing firm famous for children's books, particularly those of Beatrix Potter. It was founded in 1865 by a bookseller, who gave his own name to the firm.- History :...

 in London

London

London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

 and Scribner, Welford, and Co. in New York in 1870, which was republished in 1894 by Warne. George Routledge

George Routledge

George Routledge was a British publisher.He gained his earliest experience of business with a bookseller at Carlisle...

 and Sons published an edition in 1871, and Crosby Lockwood in 1885.

An imitation New cobwebs to catch little flies was also published by the Religious Tract Society

Religious Tract Society

The Religious Tract Society, founded 1799, 56 Paternoster Row and 65 St. Paul's Chuchyard, was the original name of a major British publisher of Christian literature intended initially for evangelism, and including literature aimed at children, women, and the poor.The RTS is also notable for being...

, between 1833 and 1839.