The History of A, Apple-Pie (1858)

This alphabet book, published in 1858 by Dean & Sons, reflects the changing attitudes toward reading theory and educational theory. In the latter half of the 19th century, the old method of rote learning, where children merely memorized the letters of the alphabet, usually through association with a single word and accompanying illustration, was replaced by a method of having children “learn whole words in meaningful context,” with the content often consisting of amusing narratives in rhyming verse. This book is a prime example of this construction of amusing narratives, as it teaches the alphabet by having personified letters of the alphabet interact with an apple pie, with verbs that start with each letter of the alphabet characterizing their action.

Interestingly, the letter X references Socrates' wife Xantippe, with the text reading "X stormed for a share, Like a vixen so bold; You'd have thought, had you seen her, 'twas Xantippe the scold." Xanthippe is most famous for her argumentative spirit, as well as an unconfirmed anecdote which purports that once Xanthippe was so enraged with her husband that she took a chamberpot and poured it out over Socrates' head, which he accepted with the allegory: “After thunder comes the rain.”

The implication here is that children were expected to have some sort of cultural knowledge of Xanthippe and think of her as a "scold." That the young girl in the illustration is labelled a "scold" for simpy being assertive and trying to get a piece of the pie is indicative of the way women were treated and conceptualized at the time.

Socrates, his Wives and Alcibiades, by Reyer van Blommendael.