A History of the McGuffey Readers | Page 2

story of these readers is told in the specimens of the several editions, in the long treasured and time-worn contracts, in the books of accounts kept by the successive publishers, and in the traditions which have been passed down from white haired men who gossiped of the early days in the schoolbook business. Valuable information has also been furnished by descendants of the McGuffey family, and by the educational institutions with which each of the authors of the readers was connected.
[Different Editions]
For half a century the present writer has had personal knowledge of the readers. At first, as a teacher, using them daily in the class room; but soon, as an editor, directing the literary work of the publishers and owners. It therefore falls to him to narrate a story "quorum pars minima fui."
For more than seventy years the McGuffey Readers have held high rank as text-books for use in the elementary schools, especially throughout the West and South. But during this time these books have been revised five times and adjusted to the changed conditions in the schools. In each one of these revisions the marked characteristics of the original series have been most scrupulously retained, and the continued success of the series is doubtless owing to this fact. There has been a continuity of spirit.
[Contents of the Books]
The First and Second Readers were first published in 1836. In 1837 the Third and Fourth Readers were printed. For reasons elsewhere explained these books were "improved and enlarged" in 1838. In 1841 a higher reader was added to the series which was then named McGuffey's Rhetorical Guide. In the years 1843 and 1844 the four books then constituting the series were thoroughly remodeled and on the title pages were placed the words "Newly Revised" and the Rhetorical Guide was annexed as the Fifth Reader. Ten years later the entire series was made over and issued in six books. These were then called the New Readers. From 1853 until 1878 the books remained substantially unchanged; but in the latter year they were renewed largely in substance and improved in form. These readers as copyrighted in 1879 were extensively used for more than a quarter of a century. Changing conditions in the school room called for another revision in 1901. This latest form now in extensive use is called The New McGuffey Readers.
Each of these revisions has constituted practically a new series although the changes have never included the entire contents. In the higher readers will be found today many selections which appeared in the original books. The reason for retaining such selections is clear. No one has been able to write in the English language selections that are better for school use than some written by Shakespeare, Milton, Bacon, and other early writers. The literature of the English language has not all been written in the present decade nor in the last century.
As at first published, the lower books of the McGuffey Readers had no trace of the modern methods now used in teaching the mastery of words--even the alphabet was not given in orderly form; but the alphabetic method of teaching the art of reading was then the only one used. The pupil at first spelled each word by naming the letters and then pronounced each syllable and then the word.
[First Editions]
The following stanza is copied from page 61 of the edition of 1844 to illustrate the method of presenting words:
I like to see a lit-tle dog, And pat him on the head; So pret-ti-ly he wags his tail When-ev-er he is fed.
The First Reader was mostly in words of one syllable. In this book we find the story of the lame dog that, when cured, brought another lame dog to be doctored: of the kind boy who freed his caged bird; of the cruel boy who drowned the cat and pulled wings and legs from flies; of Peter Pindar the story teller, and the "snow dog" of Mount St. Bernard; of Mr. Post who adopted and reared Mary; of the boy who told a lie and repented after he was found out; of the chimney sweep who was tempted to steal a gold watch but put it back and was thereafter educated by its owner; of the whisky boy; and of the mischievous boy who played ghost and made another boy insane. Nearly every lesson has a moral clearly stated in formal didactic words at its close.
In the Second Reader we find the story of the idle boy who talked with the bees, dogs, and horses, and having found them all busy, reformed himself; of the kind girl who shared her cake with a dog and an old man; of the mischievous boys who tied the grass across the path and thus upset not only the milk-maid but the