The first book about adult education, reprinted here in a limited edition, was published in 1816 in Bristol, England. It marked the beginning of the modern era in education by acknowledging the importance of adult education in the total educational scheme of a society. The author, Thomas Pole, was born in Philadelphia in 1753 and was brought up as…

George Birkbeck, known to the present generation principally as the founder of Birkbeck College, was a Quaker doctor and teacher who played a leading role in a great variety of educational institutions and movements in the first half of the nineteenth century. This biography describes his early years in Yorkshire, his life as a student in…