The Art of Reading: Containing a Number of Useful Rules, Exemplified by a Variety of Selected and Original Pieces
Boston: West & Richardson, 1814. Tenth Edition. Originally published in 1800, this edition of Staniford's perennial schoolbook is in scarce condition, being largely unmarked and in the original scaleboards.
In Michael V. Belok's 1968 essay "Forming the American Character: Essayists and Schoolbooks" Social Science Vol. 43, No. 1 (Jan. 1968), he uses Staniford's work to characterize the essence of post-revolution education (and which differs in many ways from our present system of education) which emphasizes religion and virtue, from which Staniford selected various Biblical stories but also soliloquies from Shakespeare, passages from Paradise Lost, and Lee's funeral oratory for George Washington. See also Sensabaugh, Milton in Early American Schools, Huntington Library Quarterly Vol. 19, No. 4 (Aug., 1956), pp. 376-78.
12mo. viii, 240pp. Shaw & Shoemaker 32845. Very good in contemporary sheep over wooden boards, covered in blue paper. There is loss to the blue paper covering, joints cracked but firm, pages browned. The book is housed in a custom chemise and slipcase. Item #172
Price: $200.00