Description

This new volume of letters to Pestalozzi covers the period between 1814 and July 1817. It thus encompasses the fall of Napoleon, the Congress of Vienna, and the great European economic crisis of 1816–17. This crisis adversely affected Pestalozzi’s Institute, already suffering from a reduction in enrollment because of public feuding among its employees. The letters also deal with the activities surrounding the solicitation for subscriptions to the complete edition of Pestalozzi’s writings. The astounding success of this publication – over 1,800 subscriptions were obtained following the announcement of its release – reflect Pestalozzi’s European-wide celebrity. His extensive network of contacts included educational reformers, governments, noblemen, and merchants from Russia to Transylvania, London, France, Germany, Switzerland, and as far away as America. The letters from subscribers demonstrate the respect and cult-like veneration bestowed upon Pestalozzi, despite the crisis taking place at his Institute.