Description

Siyar al-Abtal wa-al-Uzama’ al-Qudama’ (Tales of heroes and great men of old) introduces young readers to classical mythology. It typifies many publications of the British and American missionaries in the Levant in the mid-to-late 19th century. Uplifting humanistic writing of this kind was new to the Middle East. It grew directly from the children’s book movement in Britain in the first half of the century, led by the British Tract Society, which later reinforced the efforts of American missionaries to the Middle East, such as Cornelius Van Dyck. The ...