Adult literacy pioneer Mary Godolphin (1723-1764) (w — but see update below) rewrote many books, including Robinson Crusoe, The Pilgrim's Progress, and The Swiss Family Robinson, in words of one syllable.
I was born at York on the first of March in the sixth year of the
reign of King Charles the First. From the time when I was quite a
young child, I had felt a great wish to spend my life at sea, and
as I grew, so did this taste grow more and more strong; till at
last I broke loose from my school and home, and found my way on
foot to Hull, where I soon got a place on board a ship.When we had set sail but a few days, a squall of wind came on,
and on the fifth night we sprang a leak. All hands were sent to
the pumps, but we felt the ship groan in all her planks, and her
beams quake from stem to stern; so that it was soon quite clear
there was no hope for her, and that all we could do was to save
our lives.
Reader comment:
Martha Imparato, librarian at Mabee Library, Washburn University, in Topeka, KS says:
I am writing to inform you of a small correction that needs to be made
in the article about an author, Mary Godolphin, who rewrote several
classic works for children with simple language. The name is actually a
pseudonym for Lucy Aikin and she has different birth and death dates
than the ones you posted. Something about the 3 titles listed didn't
click with me and after investigating, sure enough, one of the titles
was published after Mary was supposedly dead. There was a real Mary
Godolphin who was a British noble whose dates were those on your post,
but she was not an author.[Here] is a link to Project Gutenburg which will clear things up.
Lucy's dates are 1781-1864.
Swiss Family Robinson was published 1818 so the Mary on your post could
not have reworked it since she died in 1764.A librarian in Kansas sent this link to our state listserv knowing some
of us would be interested, so that's how I happened across the story
and thus began my investigation.I don't usually look for things like this, but I hope you will look
into this in the spirit of accuracy.
