New Texas Reader Designed Use (2 results)
More imagesPublished by E.H. Cushing, Houston 1864
- Hardcover
- First Edition
Seller: Arader Books, New York, NY, U.S.A.Arader Books
Contact seller5-star sellerCondition: Used - Good
US$ 18,000.00
Free ShippingShips within U.S.A.Quantity: 1 available
Hardcover. Condition: Good. First. NO COPIES ON OCLC OR AT AUCTION. Houston, Texas: Published by E.H. Cushing, 1864. Octavo (6 15/6" x 4 5/16", 177mm x 109mm). With one engraved plate (the Star of Texas). Bound in the publisher's printed boards with patterned cloth backing. Front board soiled and worn, and nearly detached. Cloth… backing worn in places. Remarkably clean internally. Presented in a quarter morocco clam-shell box. Perhaps a unique survival on the market. An important and rare Civil War era Texas reader, in the publisher's original binding. Cushing was the editor and publisher of the Houston Telegraph. During the Civil War, when relations were broken off with publishers of the North, and paper was in short supply, Cushing bought and hoarded scrap paper to keep his newspaper presses churning, and during that time also issued 6 juvenile readers for use in Texas schools at a financial loss, to fill the void made by the absence of McGuffey's Readers. One of Cushing's goals was to educate Texas students about Texas matters, and in that spirit the reader contains much Texas specific material, including geography, sociology, and many accounts of the war with Mexico, including the Fall of the Alamo and the battles at Galveston. In the foreword Cushing states, "The 'Texas Reader' is a home production. It is a Southern work, and is called for, not merely from feelings of state pride, but is also demanded by the wants of the country. . . Let us become independent in the means of education, as in everything else. The South has made heroes; let us also make books." Cushing's readers are rare in any condition, particularly given the precarious nature of its manufacture, and the intended audience of the book.
More imagesPublished by Published by E. H. Cushing, Houston, Texas 1864
- First Edition
Seller: James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA, New York, NY, U.S.A.James Cummins Bookseller, ABAA
Contact seller5-star sellerFirst edition. First edition. Full page cut of a Texas lone star. viii, 184pp. 12mo. A very rare Texas-printed Confederate juvenile reader, intended for Texas children in the midst of the Civil War. The contents are largely historical in nature, with sections on Texan history and heroes as well as accounts of Civil War battles i…n which Texas troops played a role. "Among the large number of original articles here presented, we have bestowed special care on those which relate to our State . with the view of inspiring our youth with a love of Texas and an admiration for Texan heroes. The struggles of those who settled the country and fought its battles should be familiarly known to our children . The 'Texas Reader' is a home production. It is a Southern work, and is called for, not merely from the feelings of State pride, but is also demanded by the wants of the country" (Preface). Lessons include the history of the first American settlement by Stephen F. Austin, the Fall of the Alamo, the Texas Santa Fe Expedition, Battle of Sabine Pass and many more. The publisher's preface notes that "in preparation of this book, we are largely indebted to Rev. J. R. Hutchinson, D.D. of the Houston Academy, and many other gentleman and ladies of our State." A few of the articles include bylines by B. H. Hollinsworth. The last example of this work in the auction records (not to be confused with another rare work titled New Texas Primary Reader published in 1863) appeared in 1930. Parrish & Willingham 7705 (noting 8 copies) Publisher's striped cloth backed lettered paper boards, heavily worn, front hinge starting Full page cut of a Texas lone star. viii, 184pp. 12mo.
