Primer by Uncle Herbert (6 results)

Hardcover. Condition: Poor. No Jacket. Condition: Poor. But this 140-year-old children's first reader is so rare and interesting that I believe it should be listed and made available. The text pages are not torn or marked up (except page 36 with a penciled-in sentence), but all are soiled and spotted. The signatures are pulling away from the binding, but all pages are present (the final page - 48 - says The End). The cover is badly soiled, which shows this primer got used a lot, but the green spine is intact. 8" x 6", 48 pages, 7 ounces. Both pastedowns have penciled numbers. There is an inscription on the first free endpaper: Frank Hannum, Danville, Illinois, December 25th, 1879. This suggests it was a Christmas gift. Ancestry-dot-com shows a Frank Hannum in Danville in 1880 with a birthdate of about 1875, which would have made the recipient of this gift book four-years-old. His father was a grocery clerk. On that same genealogical website Frank Hannum is listed as a newsboy in 1889. Danville had a population of 7,733 in 1880 and 11,491 in 1890. It was a major coal-mining town featuring some of the earliest open pits. XX Primers introduced children to the alphabet and then used simple stories with similar words to teach reading (with parents', siblings', and/or teachers' help). What makes this 1877 primer delightful are the illustrations for each letter of the alphabet and for the stories, which always feature children and often an animal they would be familiar with (dogs are the most frequent, followed by horses, cats, cows, oxen, and birds. Hens, bears, donkeys, roosters, and squirrels only appear once. Besides using primarily 1-syllable words, the little stories accompanied by illustrations often provide some grammatical rules as well as guidance to good behavior. One of the strangest is: Do not hit the boy, bad man. If you do, you will go off in a van. Do not go to him, boy, he will hit you in the eye. Other stories follow traditional Victorian sentimentalism: Poor little Nora has no one to love her; she has to work hard every day and does not get much to eat. Is it not sad? You must all be kind to the poor, for they have a hard life, and do not have the nice toys and food that you have. Will you try not to forget this. Lauderbach, Mesnet, et al. (illustrator).…

Hardcover. Condition: Fair. First Edition. a fair hardcover copy of this scarce childrens' title; binding is loose; 2 pages front and back are loose and have pieces missing at edges of those loose pages; ; pencil scribbling inside front and back cover ; ; SATISFACTION GUARANTEED; attractive illustrated covers; Size: 7 x 9". Illustrated Throughout (illustrator).…

Hardcover. Condition: Good. No Jacket. 1st Edition. Playtime Primer was edited by Uncle Herbert. The book was published by Donohue, Henneberry & Co. in 1894 and appears to be a First Edition though it's not specifically stated as such. It's NOT an ex-library copy but is only in good condition with wear, a spine that I have glued to help shore it up, yellowing pages, and some minor soiling to the bottom of the title page. The book begins with an alphabet section for the first 10 pages, then has some short "essays", poems, and short stories all in nice bold bigger print. The book is 7 3/8" by 9 3/8" and has about 40 pages with black-and-white illustrations throughout. Thank you.…

Softcover. Condition: Good+. Dust Jacket Condition: No Dust Jacket As Issued. Edited by Uncle Herbert. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., (c. 1878). 8vo. 22 pages plus covers on linen, stitch sewn and printed in b&w. Covers moderately worn and soiled, slight fraying of the threads at cover's edges; interior clean, very good condition, alphabet and engravings in rich black and white illustrating instructional stories. Online we found the Publisher's Weekly text for August 17, 1878, listing this book as a new publication. ; Illustrated; 8vo 8" - 9" tall; 22 pages.…

Hardcover. Condition: Good. Good condition copy for age. Tired in appearance, rubbed and scuffed. Pages pulling and loosening with some attempted repair, darkened with marks. Good reading copy. Good condition is defined as: a copy that has been read but remains in clean condition. All of the pages are intact and the cover is intact and the spine may show signs of wear. The book may have minor markings which are not specifically mentioned. Most items will be dispatched the same or the next working day.…

Condition: Gut. unpaginiert, [25 Bll.] mit zahlreichen Abbildungen; Einband stark berieben und bestoßen. Seiten vereinzelt leicht fingerfleckig. Insges. guter Zustand. /vitrine Sprache: Englisch Gewicht in Gramm: 1100 gr. 8°; gebunden, illustrierter Orig.-Pappband.