A Home for Foundlings: A Lord Museum Book Paperback - 2005

From the jacket flap

Thousands of mothers carried their babies to the gates of the Foundling Hospital desperate to save them from the cruel streets of eighteenth-century London. Each baby was left with a personal "token" - identification if a repentant mother ever returned to reclaim her child.
Captain Thomas Coram, himself childless, was inspired by the sight of babies abandoned on dung heaps to petition the king for support in building a home for England's poorest children. Coram's vision saved countless children's lives. "A Home for Foundlings describes the hospital Captain Coram founded, the luminaries involved - including Handel, Hogarth, and Dickens - and the daily lives of the foundlings themselves.
Full of archival photos and materials, and published in cooperation with the newly established Foundling Museum in London and Lord Cultural Resources, "A Home for Foundlings is a fascinating, heartbreaking, and timely book. Author Marthe Jocelyn's text has particular resonance: her grandfather, Arthur Jocelyn, was raised in the Foundling Hospital.

Media reviews

“A heartbreaking book… extensively researched… presents information in a way that is respectful of the people and the situation… story and photos convey a fascinating part of history… Jocelyn writes feelingly without any sentimentality.”
-Jury Comment (Norma Fleck Award)

Citations

• Booklist, 03/01/2005, Page 1151
• Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks, 06/01/2005, Page 442
• PW Notes and Reprints, 03/28/2005, Page 81
• Quill & Quire, 01/01/2005, Page 32
• School Library Journal, 06/01/2005, Page 179
• Voice of Youth Advocates, 08/01/2005, Page 246