Children’s missionary periodicals have some of the most charming, amusing, and eyebrow-raising content I’ve come across in the Burke Library’s collections. The Church Missionary Juvenile Instructor is one in particular that caught my eye with the delightful cover shown above. The Burke has fairly comprehensive holdings of this periodical, which was published in London by the Church Missionary Society from 1842 to at least the 1950’s in various title permutations. The images below give a glimpse at the editors’ efforts to engage their young audience with a visually arresting publication, a conversational tone, and encouragement of reader participation.

The items pictured in this post are from both the open stacks and special collections at Burke. To learn more about visiting the Burke Library, please see our website for General Library Access or Special Collections Access.