Introductory Note THE Contrast between the dainty picture books that are provided to entice the school children of the present along the paths of knowledge, and the sparsely illustrated volumes conned by the little folk of two or three generations ago, is very great; and yet the old books seemed beautiful to the children then, and the charm all comes back when a person of middle age or beyond happens on one of these humble friends of his youth. What an aroma of the far-gone days of childhood hovers in the yellow pages The scenes in the schoolroom rise in the memory, one is young again, and has in gentle illusion the same feelings and the same juvenile companions as of old. But the pleasure of seeing the books of our schooldays is seldom experienced; for, once their work was done, they received scant care, and most of the multitude that were printed have perished utterly. The wear and tear of use and the accidents and exigencies of time have made way with them, and to-day one could hardly find the books he studied as a child save by long and patient earch, an aps some of them not at all. My own collection of school-books has been largely gathered by exploring the nooks and corners of the old bookshops from New England to South Carolina; but many things I could not get, and I have been greatly aided in compiling this volume by the collections of various individuals and institutions. I am especially grateful to the American Antiquarian Society of Worcester, the Essex Institute of Salem, the Deerfield Museum, the Connecticut Historical Society, and to Mr. Albert C. Bates of Hartford, and Mr. George A. Plimpton of New York. I also am much indebted to the Henry Barnard Collection, now at Hartford, but probably soon to be sold and transferred elsewhere a collection which includes the American publications used in our schools from the beginnings down to 1850 v more completely than any other in existence. My readers will doubtless notice that I have dwelt on the educational history of Massachusetts rather than on that of any of its neighbors. This I have done because it seems to me to possess unrivalled interest. Massachusetts has always been a pioneer in educational experiments, and where it has led the way the sister states have followed. Its experience has been a constant aid to them, and the attention it has given to education has always been far above the average for the whole country. CLIFTON JOHNSON. HADLEY, MASSACHUSETTS. |