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Thomas Day
1748–1789
Best remembered for The History of Sandford and Merton, this English writer blended children's fiction with big ideas about education, virtue, and social reform. He was also an abolitionist whose life and work reflected the restless, idealistic spirit of the late 18th century.
2 Audiobooks
The History of Sandford and Merton
by Thomas Day
The History of Little Jack, a Foundling
by Thomas Day
About the author
Thomas Day was an English writer, lawyer, and abolitionist born in London on June 22, 1748. He is most closely associated with The History of Sandford and Merton, published between 1783 and 1789, a hugely influential children's work shaped by the educational ideas of Jean-Jacques Rousseau.
Day moved in reform-minded intellectual circles and wrote on public issues as well as education. Accounts of his life consistently note his opposition to slavery, and he is remembered as a figure whose moral seriousness shaped both his books and his political writing.
His life was short—he died on September 28, 1789—but his reputation lasted well beyond it, especially through Sandford and Merton, which remained widely read for generations. Modern readers often find him fascinating for both his earnest ideals and the contradictions in the way he tried to live them out.