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The New England Primer:
Book Description:
"This was a standard reader in New England in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was apparently used in both public and Sunday (religious) schools. At that time children of all ages studied in the same classroom, so it has portions oriented towards younger and older students.
Besides instruction in the alphabet, the New England Primer also served to indoctrinate young minds in the stern and somewhat morbid Protestantism of that time and place. Depending on your viewpoint, it is either yet another example of how religion has been excised from the public schools in the United States, or a quaint sample of what our forefathers considered acceptable as 'moral education'.
The New England Primer also has examples of religious intolerance, specifically anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic statements, which reflect then-contemporary attitudes." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)
Table of Contents:
Publisher's Preface; Frontispiece; Alphabet; The Creed; The Lord's Prayer; The Ten Commandments; Alphabet Poem; An Alphabet Of Lessons For Children; Morning Prayer For A Child; Evening Prayer For A Child; Agur's Prayer; Duty Of Children To Their Parents; Uncertainty Of Life; On Life And Death; The Infant's Grace Before And After Meat; The Sum Of The Ten Commandments; Our Savior's Golden Rule; Choice Sentences; The Dutiful Child's Promise; Instructive Questions And Answers; Dr. Watts's Cradle Hymn; Offices Of Humanity; The Burning Of Mr. John Rogers; Verses For Little Children; The Shorter Catechism; A Dialogue Between Christ, A Youth, And The Devil; Lessons For Children; Endnotes
About the Publisher:
Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org
Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.
"This was a standard reader in New England in the 18th and 19th centuries. It was apparently used in both public and Sunday (religious) schools. At that time children of all ages studied in the same classroom, so it has portions oriented towards younger and older students.
Besides instruction in the alphabet, the New England Primer also served to indoctrinate young minds in the stern and somewhat morbid Protestantism of that time and place. Depending on your viewpoint, it is either yet another example of how religion has been excised from the public schools in the United States, or a quaint sample of what our forefathers considered acceptable as 'moral education'.
The New England Primer also has examples of religious intolerance, specifically anti-Catholic and anti-Semitic statements, which reflect then-contemporary attitudes." (Quote from sacred-texts.com)
Table of Contents:
Publisher's Preface; Frontispiece; Alphabet; The Creed; The Lord's Prayer; The Ten Commandments; Alphabet Poem; An Alphabet Of Lessons For Children; Morning Prayer For A Child; Evening Prayer For A Child; Agur's Prayer; Duty Of Children To Their Parents; Uncertainty Of Life; On Life And Death; The Infant's Grace Before And After Meat; The Sum Of The Ten Commandments; Our Savior's Golden Rule; Choice Sentences; The Dutiful Child's Promise; Instructive Questions And Answers; Dr. Watts's Cradle Hymn; Offices Of Humanity; The Burning Of Mr. John Rogers; Verses For Little Children; The Shorter Catechism; A Dialogue Between Christ, A Youth, And The Devil; Lessons For Children; Endnotes
About the Publisher:
Forgotten Books is a publisher of historical writings, such as: Philosophy, Classics, Science, Religion, Esoteric and Mythology. www.forgottenbooks.org
Forgotten Books is about sharing information, not about making money. All books are priced at wholesale prices. We are also the only publisher we know of to print in large sans-serif font, which is proven to make the text easier to read and put less strain on your eyes.
- GenresHistory
89 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
September 6, 2015
I read this Kindle goodie because Emily Dickinson grew up with it and I'm researching her for my scary YA work-in-progress.
As you can see from my updates, this 19th-century New England children's book is not exactly Dr. Seuss. They do have some things in common, though.
Hey! Let's compare them, shall we?
Do this primer and the beloved books of Dr. Seuss:
1. Utilize lists of short, commonly used words in order to help children learn to read?
Seuss: Yes!
Primer: Yes
2. Believe that words like "heinous" and "hateful" are good and proper two-syllable words for young readers to learn?
Seuss: Um...
Primer: YES
3. Offer young readers stories written in catchy rhymes?
Seuss: Yes!
Primer: Depends on your definition of "catchy"
4. Offer at least one story featuring a delightfully playful cat?
Seuss: Yes
Primer: NO
5. Offer at least one story featuring a cat playing with big, hairy rats and then killing and eating them?
Seuss: Good gracious, no
Primer: Heck, yeah
6. Teach, via aforementioned fun-loving cat, that playing around behind your parents' backs is okay as long as you clean up afterward and no one gets hurt?
Seuss: Totally
Primer: Absolutely not
7. Teach that if kids sass their parents, they should "die the death"?
Seuss: (faints)
Primer: Burn, baby, burn.
Conclusion: Anyone who thinks Dickinson's poetry is a little on the morbid side should read this book and realize that, if anything, she's a ray of sunshine in a dark New England winter.
Fer realz, her work actually rebels against this aspect of her upbringing. She celebrates the joys of earthly existence in poem after poem, and vigorously disagrees with the idea that life is nothing more than a (not always) lengthy preparation for death:
Who has not found the Heaven – below –
Will fail of it above –
For Angels rent the House next our's,
Wherever we remove –
Dickinson so adored the good things her life on earth had to offer – her beloved family and few treasured friends, her dear dog Carlo, the ever-dazzling beauty of nature, and of course her writing – that she composed, on the torn-off corner of an envelope, what is possibly the cheekiest prayer-poem ever written:
Some Wretched
creature, Savior
Take
Who would Exult to die
And leave for
thy sweet
mercy's sake
Another Hour
To me
This book may have succeeded in its memento mori mission with the majority of its young readers, but Dickinson rejected it utterly. And that's all I care about.
Read this if you want a creepy look at what used to be considered appropriate fare for children.
As you can see from my updates, this 19th-century New England children's book is not exactly Dr. Seuss. They do have some things in common, though.
Hey! Let's compare them, shall we?
Do this primer and the beloved books of Dr. Seuss:
1. Utilize lists of short, commonly used words in order to help children learn to read?
Seuss: Yes!
Primer: Yes
2. Believe that words like "heinous" and "hateful" are good and proper two-syllable words for young readers to learn?
Seuss: Um...
Primer: YES
3. Offer young readers stories written in catchy rhymes?
Seuss: Yes!
Primer: Depends on your definition of "catchy"
4. Offer at least one story featuring a delightfully playful cat?
Seuss: Yes
Primer: NO
5. Offer at least one story featuring a cat playing with big, hairy rats and then killing and eating them?
Seuss: Good gracious, no
Primer: Heck, yeah
6. Teach, via aforementioned fun-loving cat, that playing around behind your parents' backs is okay as long as you clean up afterward and no one gets hurt?
Seuss: Totally
Primer: Absolutely not
7. Teach that if kids sass their parents, they should "die the death"?
Seuss: (faints)
Primer: Burn, baby, burn.
Conclusion: Anyone who thinks Dickinson's poetry is a little on the morbid side should read this book and realize that, if anything, she's a ray of sunshine in a dark New England winter.
Fer realz, her work actually rebels against this aspect of her upbringing. She celebrates the joys of earthly existence in poem after poem, and vigorously disagrees with the idea that life is nothing more than a (not always) lengthy preparation for death:
Who has not found the Heaven – below –
Will fail of it above –
For Angels rent the House next our's,
Wherever we remove –
Dickinson so adored the good things her life on earth had to offer – her beloved family and few treasured friends, her dear dog Carlo, the ever-dazzling beauty of nature, and of course her writing – that she composed, on the torn-off corner of an envelope, what is possibly the cheekiest prayer-poem ever written:
Some Wretched
creature, Savior
Take
Who would Exult to die
And leave for
thy sweet
mercy's sake
Another Hour
To me
This book may have succeeded in its memento mori mission with the majority of its young readers, but Dickinson rejected it utterly. And that's all I care about.
Read this if you want a creepy look at what used to be considered appropriate fare for children.
Displaying 1 of 1 review