Exhibits containing tag : geography-textbook

Smith's Geography - 1845

8/13/24 (updated 12/15/25)Roswell C. Smith’s “Geography” is a 19th‑century school textbook that teaches world geography to children and general learners. It combines maps, descriptive text, and question‑and‑answer exercises to train students to “produce” geographic knowledge rather than just memorize lists.Main purposeSmith’s geography books were designed for use in schools, academies, and families, presenting geography as a systematic course of study rather than a travelogue. They introduce physical and political geography, including continents, countries, major cities, rivers, and mountains, along with brief notes on climate, resources, and peoples.The “productive system”The subtitle “Geography on the Productive System” refers to a pedagogical method in which students answer structured questions on maps and short texts so that they “produce” the lesson’s facts themselves. Lessons are often arranged as:Map questions (locating places, tracing rivers, etc.).Short, concise descriptions of each region.Review questions to reinforce memory and reasoning.This approach distinguishes the work from purely catechetical geographies by emphasizing observation, comparison, and active recall.Content and structureTypical editions cover:General definitions (globe, zones, latitude/longitude, oceans, continents).A progression from world overview to specific regions: the United States and its states, then other parts of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and “Oceanica.”Brief cultural and economic notes that reflect contemporary American and Eurocentric views, including value‑laden rankings of “states of society” and “forms of government,” and often problematic racial and civilizational hierarchies by modern standards.So, in short, Smith’s “Geography” is a mid‑19th‑century didactic geography textbook series, using maps, guided questions, and concise descriptions to teach basic physical and political geography with a strongly moralized, hierarchical view of world cultures characteristic of its period.Source: Perplexity.ai-- G. Ly

Mitchell's School Geography - 1845

5/28/2023 This exhibit is for David Cooper-Bryce (@David Cooper-Boyce) , who took my winter study class in January 2023 at Williams College and during almost every class, borrowed and perused this book. To his credit, he split his attention well and didn't miss much of what was going on in the classroom. (See image 33 of 88 for Mitchell's assessment of Williams College...second place, with Amherst, after Harvard.)Tom Paper (@tomadmin) 5/21/23Mitchell's School Geography is a system of modern geography that was published in 1845 by S. Augustus Mitchell123. It describes the geography of the world and includes maps and illustrations. The book was published by Thomas, Cowperthwait, & Company in Philadelphia. Mitchell's School Geography was widely used in American schools during the mid-19th century and was considered a standard textbook4.S. Augustus Mitchell was the publisher of "Mitchell's School Geography" in 1845, which was a system of modern geography1234. He was also the author of "Mitchell's Ancient Geography, Designed for Academies, Schools, and Families: A System of Classical and Sacred Geography with an Ancient Atlas"5. Mitchell was an American geographer and cartographer who lived from 1792 to 18686.Source: perplexity.aiSamuel Augustus Mitchell (1790,[1] Bristol, Connecticut – December 20, 1868, Philadelphia) was an American geographer. Mitchell's 1864 map of India, Tibet, China and Southeast Asia. He was born in Connecticut.[1] Mitchell worked as a teacher before turning to publishing geography textbooks and maps. He became involved in geography after teaching and realizing that there were so many poor quality geographical resources available to teachers. He moved to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in either 1829 or 1830. He was in Philadelphia when he founded his company. His son, S. Augustus Mitchell, became owner in 1860. Their publications covered all genres of geography: maps, travel guides, textbooks, and more.[1] Sales of his 24 works reached an annual volume of over 400,000 copies.[2]Source: wikipediakeywords: geography histtext