c1890 Kirton's Standard Temperance Reciter Antique English Reference Book

The Standard Temperance Reciter - A Collection Of Dialogues, Recitations and Readings In Prose and Poetry....

Edited by John W. Kirton

Published by Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co: London c1890 (undated)

One Shilling Edition

"The Standard Temperance Reciter, edited by John W. Kirton and published by Ward, Lock, Bowden & Co around 1890, is a compelling anthology designed to promote the values of temperance through performance and literature. Presented in the "One Shilling Edition," this collection brings together a wide variety of dialogues, prose readings, and poems intended for public recitation at meetings, schools, and social gatherings. The selections often blend moral persuasion with emotional appeal, highlighting the dangers of alcohol abuse while celebrating sobriety, self-control, and family harmony—a reflection of the Victorian era's social reform movements and the influence of the British Temperance League. The volume captures the moral earnestness and theatrical energy of its time, offering material that ranges from sentimental domestic vignettes to stirring orations of reform and redemption. With its mix of pathos and persuasion, it served as both a tool for education and a rallying cry for community action. This enduring example of late-Victorian moral literature would appeal to collectors of temperance movement memorabilia, social history enthusiasts, and those interested in the moral and cultural reform literature of nineteenth-century Britain."