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 At the end of the 18th century, the majority of schoolbooks were imported from France or England. This Latin school text, printed in Paris 75 years earlier, was used at the Collège de Montréal in 1784 by Clément-Amable de la Broquerie (1772-1826), future parish priest of Lanoraie (1798-1804), and first parish priest of Rigaud (1804-1826).
 The pioneer in secular education in French Canada, Perrault founded in Quebec City a school for boys and one for girls. Both schools operated with some difficulty from 1830 to 1837. A fervent Catholic but a champion of religious freedom, Perrault accepted Catholics and Protestants alike, and took charge of poor children who could not pay. In 1832, with Amury Girod, a recent immigrant from Switzerland, Perrault organized a model farm at Petite-Rivière-Saint-Charles near Quebec. Practical and theoretical teaching of agriculture was complemented with courses in languages, mathematics and the sciences. This ambitious project came to an end the following year because of a lack of students; the parents unable to pay the relatively high boarding costs. The school texts written by Perrault were used in many schools in Lower Canada for many generations. One of the school texts used in Perrault's schools for boys and girls.
Probably one of the school texts used in the courses at his model farm. Joseph François Perrault, 1753-1844 Traité d'agriculture pratique. Seconde partie; de la grande et moyenne culture adaptée au climat du Bas-Canada...à l'usage des établissemens d'éducation dans les campagnes. Québec: Fréchette et Cie., 1831. 156, vii p. Perrault believed that farmers needed to have not only knowledge in agricultural matters, but also a minimum of information on the legal and judicial systems to allow them to protect their farms and have them prosper. Joseph François Perrault, 1753-1844 Code rural à l'usage des habitants tant anciens que nouveaux du Bas-Canada, concernant leurs devoirs religieux et civils, d'après les loix en force dans le pays. Québec: Imprimerie de Fréchette et Cie., 1832. 31, iii p. This work is based on the lecture notes which Father Demers gave to his students during his philosophy course at the Petit Séminaire de Québec. Since schoolbooks were rare, it was the tradition among teachers to give lecture notes which students copied. Demers was of the opinion that to have a printed text would save time and would allow the students to concentrate on the subject. Copy belonging to Narcisse-Henri-Edouard Faucher de Saint-Maurice (1844-1897), one of the most prolific writers and journalists of 19th-century French Canada. Jérôme Demers, 1774-1853 Institutiones philosophicae ad usum studiosae juventutis. Quebeci: Ex typis T. Cary, 1835. 395 p. The most popular geography school text in French Canada. It was used with a number of additions for more than 50 years. American-born and originally Protestant, Father Holmes was one of the great Canadian educators of his time. With Father Demers, at the Petit Séminaire de Québec, he taught history, geography and philosophy. He also took an active part in the training of teachers at the École normale de Québec. The statistical tables for Canada shown here were an innovation at the time. Jean Holmes, 1799-1852 Nouvel Abrégé de géographie moderne: Suivi d'un appendice, et d'un abrégé de géographie sacrée, à l'usage de la jeunesse. Quatrième édition revue et augmentée. Québec: William Neilson, 1846. xiv, 322, [47] p. At first a teacher and an educator, Jean Baptiste Meilleur, one of the leading figures in education in French Canada, was superintendent of public education in Lower Canada from 1842 to 1855. Jean Baptiste Meilleur, 1796-1878 Nouvelle Grammaire anglaise rédigée d'après les meilleurs auteurs. St. Charles, village Debartzch [i.e., Saint-Charles-sur-Richelieu, Quebec]: Imprimé par A.C. Fortin, 1833. 120 p. |
