John Ball was Lecturer in Education at Homerton College from 1963-1989 and continued to be involved in college life long after his retirement. Before he passed away, he and his wife Jean generously donated over 300 books to the College.
James Brigden, Rare Books Cataloguer at Homerton College library, has recently completed the cataloguing of this remarkable collection.
The Collection reflects John’s professional background in education as well as his interests in art and literature. It includes academic books on education, works of children’s literature, school textbooks, and material aimed at teachers.
The oldest item in the John Ball Collection is Le Spectacle de la Nature by Noël Antoine Pluche, dating from 1748. The newest item is a pop-up book entitled Little Monsters by Jan Pieńkowski, published in 1986.
This collection is now fully searchable online through iDiscover, the University of Cambridge library catalogue. The John Ball Collection has already attracted a great deal of attention from Homerton’s current MPhil Critical Approaches to Children's Literature students who are investigating rare book material and archival practices for their first assessed work.
James Brigden has selected four significant items from the John Ball Collection which, he feels, are not only representative of this fantastic collection, but are also some of his personal favourites. In his own words:
Magic Pictures, with words by F.E. Weatherly, 1896
This wonderful item is a rare first edition of an original moveable book by famous publisher Ernest Nister. The University Library holds the only other copy of this book in a UK library.
The Montessori Method, by Maria Montessori, 1912
A first UK edition of a seminal text in the history of education, this book reflects John’s role at Homerton as Lecturer in Education. It contains provenance relating to John, as detailed in the record.
The History of England for the Use of Schools, by Edward Baldwin, 1806
This is a very rare first edition of this history book for the young,
Imagerie Artistique: 20 Fables de La Fontaine illustrated by Gaston Gélibert, c.1900
About 30 items from the collection are in French, including this beautiful book of fairy tales from about 1900, illustrated by Gaston Gélibert.
