This memorial book about the People’s Petition appeared at the request of the twenty-five-member delegation that had delivered the petition (see 1878.04) together with all the signatures to the king. The book includes a short historical overview of the school struggle before 1878, an overview of the activities in 1878, and a brief chapter about the events of August 17, 1878—the day the king signed the education bill into law. The bulk of the book is given over to twenty numbered documents relating to the People’s Petition. Kuyper, mastermind and driving force behind the petition, undoubtedly composed not only the petition itself, but also several other pieces included in the book. Even document number fourteen, the address that P.J. Elout van Soeterwoude (1805–1893) delivered to the king at the presentation of the petition in Het Loo Palace, was written by Kuyper. Although Kuyper did not attend the presentation of the petition, its annexes, and the over 300,000 signatures to the king, he waited in the neighborhood close to the palace.

The editor of the collection, N.M. Feringa (1820–1886), was a teacher in Amsterdam, a member of the Consistory of the Dutch Reformed Congregation of Amsterdam, and the first secretary (1860–1886) of the Union for Christian National Primary Education.