Prøvetryk til Chr. Winthers A.B.C. 1863

This is H.P. Hansen’s trial proof for Christian Winther’s Alphabet Book, made in Denmark in the late 19th Century. The image shows a young boy, possibly a farmhand, walking along a path, driving cattle. This was a time when the education of children was changing rapidly, with the introduction of mandatory schooling. Here, we see a scene of rural Denmark, an idealized vision of the Danish countryside, that would appeal to children. The alphabet book would have been a child’s introduction to reading, but it also transmitted the values of the time. Hansen’s image evokes a sense of national identity, rooted in an agrarian past. To fully appreciate this artwork, we can look at other images, books and documents from the period. By researching the social and cultural context, we can understand the values that were being taught to children at the time. Art gives us a window into the past, but its meaning is always contingent on the social and institutional context in which it was made and received.