Noah WEBSTER (1758-1843).
The American Spelling Book. Containing the rudiments of the English Language for the use of schools in the United States.
Brattleborough,
Vt.: printed by William Fessenden, 1813. 12mo (6 3/8 x 4 inches). Pp.[i-]iv-vi;
[7-]8-100, 103-104, 10[1]-102, 105-[1]68. Oval woodcut vignette to title, 10
woodengraved illustrations by Alexander Anderson and others. (Toned, occasional
small marginal tears, more pronounced to pp.21-28 with the small areas worn
away with the loss of a few characters, I3 and I4 misbound, outer corners
of bookblock rounded). Leather-backed birch boards covered with grey paper,
double-thickness vernacular protective jacket or chemise (damage to boards, the
lower cover with extensive repairs [see images], old worming to spine, chemise
defective [see images]).
An attractive
copy of the third (?) Fessenden edition of this American juvenile classic. First published as
The First Part of the Grammatical Institute of the English Language at Hartford
in 1783, Webster thoroughly revised its text
and gave it a simple new title in 1787: 'The American Spelling Book'.
Thus 're-packaged' it became the best-selling book of any kind during the early
years of the Republic. The present iteration is one of the earlier editions to
be published by Fessenden in Brattleborough (probably the third, the first
was probably in 1809). AAS cat.record#312474; Shaw, R.R. American bibliography, 30503; Skeel, E.E.F.
Bibliography of the writings of Noah Webster, 142; McCorison, M.A. Vermont imprints,
1778-1820, 1554