The Cottage Cook & The Sunday School by Hannah More

Full title: The Cottage Cook, Mrs. Jones's cheap dishes: showing the way to do much good with little money.

In The Cottage Cook Mrs. Jones learns that “going about and doing good” would lift her spirits and would cost nothing. She became a good Samaritan and helped keep the village merchants honest. The “cottage cook” set up a school to teach villagers how to save money by cooking at home and other household skills.

In The Sunday School Mrs. Jones explains about her school and details the problems of finding a good school mistress. She exhorts people to read good books and explains the importance of Christian behavior.

Paperback 4X6, 90 pages, ISBN  9781941281758, Vintage Chapbook Series

HANNAH MORE (1745-1833) was born in Stapleton, Bristol, England. Early in her life she was interested in the theater and wrote plays. For six years her fashionable social life grew to include many important people, but when it lost its appeal she turned to religion. Dr. James Stonhouse is credited with Hannah More’s spiritual awakening, but it was John Newton’s influence that gave energy and devotion to her spiritual walk, and she became a strong Evangelical Christian. Education was a strong theme in her life and William Wilberforce encouraged her to start schools for the education and moral advancement of poor village children. To counteract immoral forces in society, Hannah More, her sister Sarah, and others wrote a series of successful chapbooks called the “Cheap Repository Tracts.” She was also active with a group called the “Clapham Sect” that met at Henry Thornton’s house in Clapham. She had a vast social circle and wrote a multitude of letters.  Her talent for writing also produced many books of drama, poetry, hymns, fiction and religious instruction.