Appleton's School Readers First Reader co-authored by William T. Harris, Andrew J. Rickoff, and Mark Bailey
date: label: date made
content: 1878
name: label: publisher
content: American Book Company
label: printer
content: D. Appleton and Company
notes: label: Description
content: <i>Appleton's School Readers: The First Reader</i> is in the authors’ words, a "judicious combination of the word and phonic methods." This 1878 reader's lessons stress learning by sight and sound. Its many delightful black and white illustrations depict animals and children at play. It is 90 pages long. The front brown cover features a border of foliage-like decorations. The back cover contains a list of recommended textbooks. The title page is stamped: “Property of the Board of Public Education, 1st School District, Penn’a.” Bessie Nuel, probably a student, is named twice in the inside cover, one in what appears to be an adult hand and once as done by a child.
label: Description
content: Co-author William T. Harris (1835-1909) was an important educational philosopher and administrator. He was the Superintendent of Schools in St. Louis, Missouri (1868-1880). Harris went on to serve as the U.S. Commissioner of Education (1889-1906).
label: Description
content: Co-author Andrew J. Rickoff (1824-1899) was a pioneering educator who served as the Superintendent of Instruction in Cleveland, Ohio from 1867-1882. During his tenure, he abolished separate education by sex and reorganized all grades into three divisions: primary, grammar, and high schools. He introduced the study of German to attract the children of German immigrants from their own private schools into the public system.
label: Description
content: Co-author Mark Bailey (1822-1904) was an Instructor of Elocution at Yale College in New Haven, Connecticut.
label: Description
content: D. Appleton & Company was an early American printer and publisher founded in New York City by Daniel Appleton (1785-1849). The firm’s publications gradually extended over a broad field of literature. The company grew to become one of the world's most important publishing houses. Appleton bought into American Book Company when it was formed but continued to publish under its name including <i>Appleton’s Magazine</i> and <i> Appleton’s Booklovers</i> and through reorganizing and a bankruptcy filing. In 1933, Appleton merged with Century to create a new company, D. Appleton-Century Co. Then in 1948, D. Appleton-Century Co. merged with F.S. Crofts, Inc. The new company was sold to Prentice-Hall in the 1960s.
label: Description
content: The American Book Company (ABC) was an educational book publisher based in New York City formed as a consolidation and partnership between Van Antwerp, Bragg, and Co., A. S. Barnes & Co., D. Appleton and Co., and Ivison, Blakeman and Co. In 1890, the company also bought out the historically important branch of Harpers known for publishing school textbooks and library materials for schools. The ABC was acquired by Litton Industries in 1977 until the International Thompson Organization facilitated the purchase of ABC by D.C. Heath and Company in 1981. Any remaining K-12 assets of the American Book Company were acquired by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt in 1995.
label: Location
content: Currently not on view
place: label: place made
content: United States: New York, New York City
setName: label: See more items in
content: Home and Community Life: Education
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: The Dr. Richard Lodish American School Collection
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: 2014.3127.27
label: nonaccession number
content: 2014.3127
label: catalog number
content: 2014.3127.27
objectType: label: Object Name
content: book
label: Object Type
content: Books
label: Object Type
content: books
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: paper (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: ink (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 7 in x 5 1/2 in x 1/4 in; 17.78 cm x 13.97 cm x .635 cm