A First Book for Children

Book Description

York: Printed by Thomas Wilson and Son. . . for Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Browne; and for Harvey and Darton, London, 1821. 71, [1]pp., 18mo. With the commendations and publisher’s advertisements at end; a well-used copy with tears into the gutter at foot, touching text but without loss, some other marginal tears and soiling. A complete, unsophisticated copy in the original drab wrappers; lower cover missing some of the outer paper, but upper cover complete with title printed within a decorative oval “Murray’s First Book for Children. Fifteenth Edition.” Unrecorded “Fifteenth Edition” of a highly successful little book, first published in 1804 and which, in this “enlarged and improved form, is intended to prepare the learner for the author's English Spelling-book.” Osborne, p. 724 locates the earliest English edition I can trace, the seventh of 1810; American survivals are better-documented. OCLC records a second copy of this seventh edition at Princeton. The present 1821 edition appears to be unrecorded, and COPAC locates no copy of any edition as early.

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