That’s It Plain Teaching 1860 First Edition Robert Kemp Philp Illustrated
 
That’s It; or, Plain Teaching
Robert Kemp Philp – 1860 First Edition
Illustrated with Over One Thousand Wood Engravings
Houlston & Wright, London
 
Bibliographic Details
 
Title: That’s It; or, Plain Teaching
Author: Robert Kemp Philp (credited as “Author of The Reason Why”)
Publisher: Houlston & Wright, 65 Paternoster Row, London
Printer: Sumfield and Jones, West Harding Street, Fetter Lane
Date: 1860
Edition: First Edition
Format: Crown octavo
Collation: xiv + 370 pages
Illustrations: Over 1,000 wood engravings throughout text
Binding: Original brown cloth with gilt spine title panel
Dimensions: 19 x 13.3 x 2.8 cm
Weight: 446g
 
About the Author
 
Robert Kemp Philp (1819–1882) was a prolific Victorian educational writer best known for his immensely popular Reason Why series. His works were designed to make scientific, historical, and practical knowledge accessible to a growing literate middle class.
 
That’s It; or, Plain Teaching represents one of his most ambitious illustrated instructional works, blending science, geography, ethnology, natural history, and civilisation studies into a single accessible volume.
 
Illustration & Educational Significance
 
This volume contains over one thousand wood engravings, integrated throughout the text; not merely decorative, but pedagogical in intent.
 
Subjects include:
Astronomy and planetary science (including illustrated Earth studies)
Zoology and ornithology
Botanical studies
World civilisations and cultural life
Industry and occupations
Natural phenomena
 
In the preface, Philp directly references John Amos Comenius and his Orbis Sensualium Pictus (1658), positioning this work as a Victorian successor to early modern visual education.
 
Unlike Comenius’ seventeenth-century picture vocabulary, Philp’s work reflects nineteenth-century scientific advances, imperial exploration, and expanding educational reform.
 
Historical Context
 
Published in 1860, the same year as Darwin’s Origin was still reshaping intellectual culture, this book reflects the Victorian appetite for systematised knowledge.
 
It was designed as:
A structured educational tool
A domestic instructional reference
A visually engaging working textbook
 
The sheer number of wood engravings suggests it was intended for active use rather than display, an educational instrument in cloth binding rather than a luxury gift book.
 
Exterior Condition
 
Bound in original brown cloth over boards and spine.
Gilt spine title over panel (panel significantly faded)
Top edge coloured
Other edges sprinkled
Small marks and light cosmetic wear across boards
Soft bumping and rubbing to corners
Small splits at head and tail of spine
Patches of discolouration
 
The binding remains intact and structurally sound.
 
Interior Condition
 
Pages lightly tanned, some darker toned
A few roughly cut page edges
Occasional very light foxing or small/light marks, stains (not obscuring text)
Pages predominantly uncreased
Small amount of pen to front pastedown
Very small edge rips to a few pages (minimal, not affecting text)
A couple of leaves slightly lifted at first seam but still securely attached
Very light gutter crack between pages 320 and 321
All xiv + 370 pages present and secure
 
A well-preserved and entirely usable Victorian educational volume.
 
Rarity & Collector Notes
 
The 1860 first edition of “That’s It” or “Plain Teaching” appears increasingly uncommon in the trade. While later reprints and modern facsimiles are available, original mid-Victorian copies seldom surface in complete and structurally sound condition.
 
Its combination of extensive wood engravings (over one thousand), broad scientific and cultural scope, and substantial Victorian cloth binding gives it strong appeal to collectors of educational history, illustrated reference works, and nineteenth-century popular science.
 
Though not a luxury publication, it represents an ambitious and visually rich pedagogical project of its era. Complete copies with secure binding and all plates present are becoming progressively harder to source on the open market.
 
A desirable and increasingly elusive example of Victorian illustrated educational publishing.