Goody Two-Shoes: A Facsimile Reproduction of the Edition of 1766

The book that gave English the phrase "goody two-shoes." Published in 1766, this is among the first stories written specifically for children rather than adults to read aloud, and it crackles with a strange, urgent energy. Margery Meanwell, a destitute orphan, begins her journey with only one shoe. When charity gives her a pair, her joy is so pure she announces it to everyone she meets. From this simple, devastating detail, the story becomes something remarkable: a tale of a poor girl who gains education, becomes a teacher, and wins security through virtue. The narrative pulses with 18th-century moral arithmetic: kindness begets reward, learning lifts the worthy, poverty is not a sin but a trial. For modern readers, the book is a portal into the bones of every Victorian moral tale that followed. You'll also find sharp social criticism embedded in the sentiment, orphans abandoned, landlords greedy, the clergy as the only ladder out of ruin. It's a curious, uneven, sometimes heartbreaking artifact that shows a culture learning how to speak to its children.