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History and Biography. 1101: Richard Johnson, The Lilliputian Library, or Gulliver's Museum

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The attribution of this book to Richard Johnson comes form M. J. P. Weedon's investigation of Johnson's day-books, which describe the financial side of his literary activities (Weedon 1949). Sydney Roscoe, however, has suggested that M. J. P. Weedon was perhaps too eager to attribute so many works to Johnson purely on the basis of his day-books, for when he claimed that he had 'written' these texts, he may simply have meant 'abridged', or 'altered', or even 'transcribed' (Roscoe 1973: 150). Johnson was certainly a major figure in late eighteenth century children's literature. The Hockliffe Collection contains several works which can undoubtedly be attributed to him, and many of these show great ability and a commitment to his trade. His Juvenile Trials for Robbing Orchards, telling fibs, and other heinous offences (1771; second edition, 1774: 0167 in the Hockliffe Collection) can be credited with starting a vogue for narratives which sought to educate their readers into good behaviour through the description of a trial and consequent punishment. Likewise, his The Oriental Moralist (c.1791) was the first translation of The Arabian Nights designed specifically for children and had many direct descendants. The prefaces to The Looking-Glass for The Mind and his other collections of moral tales sound every bit as sincere and thoughtful as any of the more approved writers of moral tales of the era. See also 0925-0927), 0092, 0161, 0233, 0479, 0604 and 0147-0148.