Learning to Read and Write in Colonial America: Literacy Instruction and Acquisition in a Cultural Context

APPENDIX 3: Production of American Imprints, 1695 to 1790

APPENDIX 3 Production of American Imprints, 1695 to 1790 Graph 3. Extant Editions of Primers Printed in Colonial America and the United States, 1695 to 1790 Appendix Three 389 Sources: All the books graphed above are extant. Their titles were obtained from the American Antiquarian Society’sonline catalogue, which lists titles in other libraries as well as its own. The genre searched was primers. Non-New England Primers: This category includes Francis Daniel Pastorius, A New Primer (1698), Benjamin Harris, The Protestant Tutor for Children (1685, 1726?), The American Primer (ca. 1740), A Primmer for Children (1744), Stephen Crisp, A New Book for Children to Learn in (1769), David Manson, A New Primer. Or, Child’s Best Guide (1770?), A New Primer (1776), The Newest American Primer (1779), A New Primer, or Little Boy and Girls Spelling Book (1786?), Anna Letitia Barbauld, Lessons for Children, from Two to Four Years Old (1788), Robert Ross, The New Primer, or Little Boy and Girls Spelling Book (1788), and Samuel Freeman, The Columbian Primer, or The School Mistresses Guide to Children (1790). Royal Primers: The Royal Primer Improved (1753), The Royal Primer (1768, 1770, 1773, 1787), and A Primer: or, An Easy and Pleasant Guide to the Art of Reading (1790). Indian Primers: The Indian Primer or The First Book: By Which Children May Know Truely to Read the Indian Language. And Milk for Babes (1720, 1747). German primers: Die Schule der Weisheit (1748, 1750), Hoch-Deutsches Lutherisches A B C (1772, 1774 or 1775, 1790, 1790), Verbessertes Hochdeutsch-Reformirtes Namen-Büchlein (1772), HochDeutsches Evangelisch-Lutherisches A B C (1782), and Hoch-Deutsches Reformirtes A B C (1785, 1788, 1788). New-England Primers: Some 85 primers printed between 1727 and 1789 and titled The New-England Primer are extant. (From 1790 on, printers were less likely to include a date.) Editions either added “enlarged” or “improved” to the main title. Publication began in Boston, which remained by far the largest source of imprints, then expanded to Germantown (1754) and Philadelphia, Pa. (including 1760 and 1764 editions by Benjamin Franklin and David Hall). In the early 1770s, editions began to be printed in Salem and Newburyport, Mass., as well as Providence, R.I. The 1780s saw a new expansion to Hartford (including Noah Webster’s revision of 1781), New Haven, New London, and Norwich, all in Connecticut; to Plymouth, Salem, and Springfield, Mass.; to Exeter and Portsmouth, N.H.; and finally to New York (1788) and Wilmington , Del. (1788). 390 Appendix Three Graph 4. Extant Editions of Spelling Books Printed in Colonial America and the United States, 1695 to 1790 Appendix Three 391 Sources: All the books graphed above are extant. Their titles were obtained from the American Antiquarian Society’sonline catalogue, which lists titles in other libraries as well as its own. The genres searched were spellers and textbooks. Secretaries: The “Secretaries” category comprises works for young men aspiring to be clerks. It includes England’s Perfect School-Master, The Young Man’s Companion, and The Secretary’s Guide, or, Young Mans Companion. Fox, Instructions: George Fox, Instructions for Right Spelling (1702 on), was a combination of a primer and a speller for members of the Society of Friends. Dixon, English Instructor and Dixon et al., Youth’s Instructor: Henry Dixon, The English Instructor. Designed to teach children to read, Dixon’s contribution became part of the compilation, The Youth’s Instructor in the English Tongue: or, the Art of Spelling Improved, Collected from Dixon, Bailey, Owen, Strong and Watts, in 1757 and thereafter. Fisher, American Instructor: George Fisher’s American Instructor (1748 and thereafter) was an omnibus self-instructional book for young men. Its title, The American Instructor; or, Young Man’s Best Companion, was alternatively titled The Instructor; or, American Young Man’s Best Companion. German spelling books: This category includes German spelling books printed in 1760, 1786, and 1789. Dilworth, New Guide: Thomas Dilworth, A New Guide to the English Tongue (1747 on), was, like Dixon’s, a speller designed for children. Webster, Institute, Part I: Noah Webster, A Grammatical Institute of the English Language, Part 1 (1783 on), titled An American Spelling Book from 1787 on, introduced children to reading. All other spelling books: The Child’s New Play-Thing (1750); anon., The Spelling-book, and Child’s Plaything (1769); DanielFenning, Universal Spelling-Book (1769 on); Anthony Benezet, The Pennsylvania Spelling-Book (1776 on); William...