8vo. 130pp. Later blind-ruled half-calf, buff paper boards, lettered in gilt, armorial blind-stamps to both boards. Rubbed and marked, joints split, some loss to head of spine, paper library shelf-label to foot. Bookplate of the Swansea Training College to FEP, manuscript shelf-marks to FFEP, occasional spotting.

A remarkably rare survival of the first edition in English of Lettre sur l’education (1760), the declaration of Frederick II, King of Prussia (1712-1785) announcing his desires regarding educational reform. Soon after the original Continental publication, Frederick laid the basic foundations of what would eventually become the Prussian primary education system, issuing, in 1763, a decree for the first Prussian general school law based on the principles developed by Johann Julius Hecker. A true progressive in matters of learning, he championed the acquisition of knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and believed that women ought to be provided with the same opportunities of their male counterparts as the were no less capable:

'leur intelligence ne le cède point à celle de l'homme, et même qu'avec une éducation plus mâle elles l'emporteraient sur nous'.

['Their intelligence does not yield to that of man, and even that with a more masculine education they would prevail over us'.]

ESTC records a single copy (Miami).