Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1886-09-09

A SEVENTEENTH CENTURY CLASSIC.
CURIOUS CHANGES IN THE TEXT.
fBoston Herald.

Boston Herald
Nobody knows Just when the first edition
Of the New England Primer was printed.
The first mention Of the book is found IN an
advertisement Of it on the title page OF an
almanac, published in Boston by Benjamin
Harris in 1871, thus: ''There is now in the
Press, and will suddenly be extant,a Second
Impression Of the New England Primer,
enlarged, to which is added more directions
for Spelling; the Prayer of X. Edward the
9th, and verses made by Mr.. Rogers the
Martyr left as Legacy to his Children.
Sold by Benjamin Harris at the London
Coffee House, in Boston," These Rogers
verses had been printed in 1856 by Samuel
Green, in primer called 'The Protestant
Teacher for Children" whereof mutilated
copy survives at Worcester. This would go
to show that the New England Primer
had not then appeared, and in fact the date
of the first edition may be fixed with proba-
bilty as 1856 or 1887.
Children's books are specially exposed to
destruction, and antiquarians have had great
trouble in finding old copies of this primer.
The late George Lvermore of Cambridge,
who gave the book good deal Of attention,
never found copy dated earlier than lI15,
and the earliest whole copy now known was
printed in 1897. DR.. j. Hammond Trum-
bull of Hartford, however, found part
four leaves-of a copy printed by William
Bradford at Philadelphia, in 1888, and as
this must have been a reprint from the hrst
Boston edition, the date of the latter is thus
approximately fixed. 1t is possible that
that first edition may yet turu up and bring
$500 TO its finder for one of the best known
dealers in old books in Boston declares that
a good copy would be worth that handsome
sum The primer Of 1887, the earliest one
Of which an entire copy mas been found, was
printed at Boston.
The editions are countless, for the primer
appeared at towns all over the New Eng
land States, and in New York and Pennsy!-
vania. and as each printer was law unto
| himself, there are n thousand variations !;
but the most Of these are unmportant, or at
most of interest only to the antiquarian.
There were. however, some general changes
which are of interest, and make part OF
the history Of the time. A copy Of The
New England Primer Improved" published
at Boston, in l76S, shows many changes
from the one described. printed 81 years
earlier. In the time between the two had
+ come great reuS!OAs revival mere. LII
wards and BelIamy and others had given a
new turn to theology, and this appeared
plainly in the primer. Its character was
no longer distinctly antl-papal, but more
purely evangelical. In the 176s copy the
effigy Of the Pope, the Man of SIM" no
longer appeared as bugbear, and many
/ changes we're made to bring all the conten,s
into harmony with the ideal Of the time.
Nothing in this line is curious as the
change, made in the picture alphabet. In the
earlier editions Of the book, some of the lit
tie couplets, as appear below. had no dis-
tinctvely religious character, and in fact a
few appear to have been borrowed from
English horn books or something Of the
kind nightingaIes never sung much in
Boston latitude. for instance-but in the
l76S edition all these were displaced by
things which mad no SAVIOR Of worldiness or
srivoiity Before going further it viii be
worth while to give the alphabet as II ap-
peared in the most ofthe earlier editions,
and to show the changes