Liberty Bell Shop

The first American schoolbook, the New England Primer, appeared in Boston in the 1688-1690 period. More of a prayer book and a catechism than an academic textbook in the modern sense, it was an immediate success and remained a staple of American primary education for almost two hundred years.

The most famous feature of the New England Primer was the set of rhymed couplets with primitive woodcuts used to illustrate the alphabet. Primers were traditionally very small books, had plain paper covers and bindings glued over think wooden covers. The small size had more to do with the economics of printing than any concern for the reader.

This version is copied from one originally printed in Boston in 1777 and maintains the size of the original. Paperback, 39 pages, 4 1/2 x 3 1/4 inches, stapled binding.