A Suit of Armour

British boys faced peril in the modern world of 1824--there were so many vices to tempt them into evil ways--but this little book offered an allegorical suit of armor to protect them through their peril. From the glorious plume on top to the brightest spurs below, each piece of armor represented and protected a noble virtue. Thus clad, a youth could navigate passage into adulthood with his good character intact to become a fine upstanding fellow fit for society capable of carrying out the hard work of empire.

Each chapter offers a bit of armory tipped onto the page to make a flap. You lift the flap and see the personality quality it protects: A Noble Helmet shields wisdom; the Strongest Breast Plate is an aegis for virtue; a pair of Excellent Gauntlets hold friendship safe.

 

While the book claims to have value to anyone who picks it up, it describes a suit:

... so light, that the most delicate of our auburn-haired English Boys may wear it for life without the slightest fatigue or inconvenience. Nay, instead of being cumberous and fatiguing, as all Armour has hitherto proved, this actually gives strength to the Body, and vivacity to the Countenance.

 

 

Come gird yourself (Dartmouth will test you!) by asking for Stacey Grimaldi's A Suit of Armour for Youth (London: Published by the proprietor, 1824), Rare N7740 .G74 1824.