age so ever the most easie, short and perfect order of distinct readings and true writings our English tonge." It cost a shilling and contained seventy-nine pages. About thirty-two pages were given to the alphabet and spelling, eighteen pages to a short catechism, ९९ reproduced by Webster ९९ necessary observations of a Christian," prayers and psalms, five pages to chronology, two to writing copies, two to arithmetic, and the rest to a list of hard words alphabetically arranged and sensibly explained. The first book of this type to achieve any great popularity in America was Dilworth's Webster's speller made spelling a standard elementaryschool subject. After the Revolution Noah Webster's Blue Backed Speller" gradually came to be the dominant textbook for primary schools. Besides the great work on his dictionary Webster (1758-1843) wrote a great many other books, contributed to magazines and newspapers, and was active as a lawyer, judge, and member of the Massachusetts legislature. After graduating from Yale in 1778, he taught school for a number of years. Feeling the need for better textbooks, he compiled his spelling book in 1782, while teaching in New York, and it was published in 1783. The book became so popular that the royalties from its sale furnished the sole support of his family from 1807 to 1827, while he was working on his dictionary. The original formidable name, "The First Part of a Grammatical Institute of the English Language," was adopted on advice of the president of Yale College. The name was later changed to "The American Spelling Book." The general adoption of Webster's speller had two very THOMAS DILWORTH From Dilworth's "New Guide to the English Tongue" important effects. In the first place it tended to standardize and simplify English spelling. The necessity of this becomes evident when reading manuscripts of the eighteenth century, for one is struck with the variety of ways in which the same word was spelled. In the second place spelling became a craze, and "spelling matches or "spell downs" became fashionable. As a consequence, good spelling came to be one of the chief measures of school training, as it has continued to be among the conservatives of to-day. Contents of Webster's speller.-Webster's speller consisted largely of an expansion of the lists of spelling words which Note the material on grammar and a chronological table of important historical events had occupied three pages in "The New England Primer described above. To these were added interspersed reading matter. This, however, did not consist of the prayers, creeds, etc., which were found in the primers, but was very miscellaneous and heterogeneous in character, often made up of unrelated phrases, sentences, or paragraphs. Dilworth's book had contained "A Select Number of Fables, adorned with proper Sculptures [pictures]," and Webster copied this characteristic, printing eight illustrated fables. Instead of the religious catechism of the primers, Webster's book concluded with a "moral catechism," which discussed such topics as humility, mercy, revenge, industry, etc. This is the Boston edition (1719) of an English arithmetic, the first one printed in America. Note the value placed on the "Rule of Three" (simple proportion) Arithmetic common but not universal in colonial curricula. -Although arithmetic was not required by law in Massachusetts before 1789, it was often taught in the elementary schools. In the eighteenth century a reputation as an "arithmeticker" was a very valuable recommendation for any teacher. This indicates the current estimate of the difficulty and value of the subject. Very few teachers were competent to teach more than the fundamental operations. Printed textbooks were little used, the traditional rules and operations being recorded by each child in a manuscript book similar to the one upon which the teacher depended. There were several English arithmetics which were sparingly used before the Revolution, but these were superseded after 1788 by American arithmetics in the same way that Webster's speller replaced the English spellers. The arithmetics of Nicholas Pike of Massachusetts were most famous. Pike's complete work, containing five hundred twelve pages, with a rule for nearly every page, was used in the grammar schools and universities. An abridged edition issued in 1793 was intended for the elementary schools. reading and writing as the fundamental subjects, with perhaps a little arithmetic for the more favored schools. Spelling was emphasized toward the end of the period. The subjects that had no place were composition, singing, drawing, object study, physiology, nature study, geography, history, secular literature, manual training. Evidence of narrow curriculum from individual testimony. - Further evidence of the narrowness of the elementary |