The Salmon Collection

The Salmon Collection consists of around 230 books on the practice and theory of education in the early part of the nineteenth century. It includes titles by Joseph Lancaster and Andrew Bell on the monitorial system as practised in Britain and in Madras, and Sarah Trimmer’s condemnation of Lancaster for undermining Christian education. The collection contains several examples of early Victorian teaching manuals prepared for the BFSS. Some books are in their original condition but many have been rebound. 

The collection was assembled by David Salmon, a student at Borough Road College from 1870. He was appointed principal of Swansea Training College (now part of Swansea Metropolitan University) in 1892 and stayed there until 1932. He died in 1944. A bibliophile as well as an educationalist, he collected books all his life and had a particular interest in the early educationalists, including Joseph Lancaster. He wrote a biography of Lancaster as well as a number of articles on aspects of the history of education.