Monday 24 December 2012

Merry Christmas!

 
Wishing all the lovely visitors to this blog a very happy Christmas - I hope you have a cheering and festive time wherever you are.
 
This Victorian card was produced by the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, a forward-thinking organisation that advocated equal education for boys and girls even at the start of the nineteenth centure and was instrumental in the development of charity schools in Britain and overseas. The Society was founded in 1698 on the departure of the Anglican Thomas Bray across the seas to Maryland. Bray believed passionately in the power of words and books and the Society became one of the first educational publishers.
 
But they taught far more than Biblical knowledge: their model was to give a wide education in literacy and numeracy, with practical skills that would also enrich lives like woodwork and sewing and cookery. And I think that comes through in this charming example of an early Christmas card, in which the beauty of nature is celebrated. The humble ivy and bluebells (or are those flowers common lungwort?) give the comforting message that the joys of Christmas are around us for much longer than a day.

14 comments:

Sacha said...

Merry Christmas Deborah, a beautiful and very happy New Year, I wish you well for 2013 beautiful literary success :)
Sacha

Maureen said...

May the beauty and joy of the season be yours.

Pétales de fée said...

Merry Christmas dear Deborah !

Reading Tea Leaves said...

I wish you every success with your new book in 2013 Deborah. Happy Christmas to you and yours.

Jeanne
x

aguja said...

A truly beautiful card ... and so Victorian.
Wishing you the best of Christmases and much inspiration for the coming year!

Kelly Hashway said...

Merry Christmas, Deborah! Wishing you much success in 2013.

James Kiester said...

Merry Christmas to you too. :-)

Vanessa said...

Merry Christmas, Deborah, and happy writing in 2013.

stadtgarten said...

Merry Christmas!
Monika

Lynne with an e said...

May merriment and happiness be yours throughout this festive season, spilling into the new year to come!
Lynne

Maison de lin said...

Hello Deborah,

Merry Christmas to you!

Greetings
Jérôme

P.S. I love the old postcard

Yvonne Osborne said...

Nice, Deborah. Very nice indeed.
Happy Holidays to you as well and thanks for the history behind the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge. I've heard of Thomas Bray but not the society. I'm all for forward-thinking organizations, of which we seem to be in short supply of these days.

Love the card. Your posts are always a pleasure.

Bunched Undies said...

Happy holidays and all the best to you in 2013 Deborah!

bright star said...

Happy New Year Deborah and success with your writing!

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