The Development of The Handbook Between 1863 and 1898

In 1863, the first year of publication of The Handbook, over 2000 copies were sold. The second edition was published the following year. Between then and 1898, P. W. Joyce regularly revised, changed and added to the work. His aim always was, he declared, to increase its usefulness for “the teacher in the working of the school” and to help one “to keep abreast with the educational requirements of the day”. The eighteenth edition of The Handbook was published in 1898 and by that time it had reached a circulation of 85,000 copies.