The Elementary Spelling Book Being an Improvement on the American Spelling Book by Noah Webster L.L.D.
date: label: date made
content: 1901
label: date made
content: 1908
name: label: publisher
content: American Book Company
label: author
content: Webster, Noah
notes: label: Description
content: One of the ways in which students assimilate language is through spellers and dictionaries. These textbooks helped standardize spelling and pronunciation for all students and in the case of the Websters it was essential for teaching children American-style English, regardless of their parents’ language.
label: Description
content: Noah Webster published his first "speller" in 1783. <i>A Grammatical Institute of the English Language</i> was a concise dictionary for adults that was a precursor to the large compendium of 1828/1829 known as <i>An American Dictionary of the English Language.</i> Webster modeled his spellers after English imports, but included American words and pronunciations. He wrote that unification of spelling, grammar, and pronunciation would help unify the new nation. Noah Webster revised the first speller in 1787 under the title of <i>The American Spelling Book</i> and it included tables of pronunciations, common abbreviations, and reading lessons for schools at the back of the book.
label: Description
content: Noah’s son William adapted this sequel for school children in 1844, shortly after his father's death. William had assisted his father with his later works and it is his editions that were used by the majority of literate Americans through to the mid-20th century. William Webster officially changed the name to <i>Webster's Elementary Spelling Book</i> but the edition became known as the "Blue-Back Speller" and was a huge success. It became the authority in classrooms across the nation and was used with primers and readers as the core for language arts programs. It was used to teach children to read, as the authority for spelling bees, and until recently was the primary tool for immigrants learning the English language. Because it was so popular in school and home, old copies were easy to obtain, so it was also used by many slaves and former slaves to teach themselves to read before and after the Civil War. Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington, and W. E. B. DuBois made note of using Webster’s.
label: Description
content: This copy was published in 1908 by the American Book Company and has the blue cover that provided its popular nickname. While a later edition than others in the collection, it is indicative of the popularity of the speller that was used well into the 20th Century.
place: label: place made
content: United States
topic: label: used
content: Education
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
label: Exhibition
content: Many Voices, One Nation
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Gift of Dr. Richard Lodish American School Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.0244.063
label: accession number
content: 2014.0244
label: catalog number
content: 2014.0244.063
objectType: label: Object Name
content: book
label: Object Name
content: speller
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: fabric (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: cardboard (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 17.4 cm x 11 cm x 1 cm; 6 27/32 in x 4 11/32 in x 13/32 in