Century-old Textbooks in the Rutgers Library

Abstract

One may almost say that during the middle and late nineteenth century William Holmes taught the whole of the United States to read. As a part of the nation-wide celebration in honor of this great educator, Dr. Clarence E. Partch has contributed to The Journal the following article in which he tells something of the role which played in American education and of the particular characteristics of his books. The Rutgers Library is fortunate in having among the hundreds of old textbooks in its collections original copies of several of the McGuffey Readers. It was additionally fortunate in this centenary year of McGuffey's birth to receive from Mr. Henry Ford a gift of the whole set, reprinted in excellent facsimile of the seven volumes of the Eclectic Readers.