The History of Sandford and Merton

Thomas Day (1748-1789), was a British author. He is most well-known for the children's book The History of Sandford and Merton (1783-1789) which emphasized Rousseauvian educational ideals. In 1773, Day published his first work- The Dying Negro, a poem he had written with John Bicknell that tells the horrifying story of a runaway slave. It was a bestseller and one of the first pieces of literature in the campaign to abolish the slave trade in Britain. Three years later, Day argued for the rights of the American colonists in his poem The Devoted Legions (1776) and in 1780 he argued in Parliament for an early peace with the revolutionaries as well as parliamentary reform. His speeches were also published as pamphlets. But it was as a writer for children that Day made his reputation. The History of Little Jack (1787) was extremely popular, but it could not match the sales of The History of Sandford and Merton which was a bestseller for over a hundred years.