New England Primer of 1777

Features that made The New England Primer the most popular reader of its day included a great syllabary (a list of words divided into syllables). Throughout it follows Christian themes including the famous prayer, "Now I lay me down to sleep." The Primer made ample use of poetry in reading instruction. Gary and Wanda did some careful editing to meet current grammar and spelling rules. Wanda also added a selection of easy reading selections made up of beginning spelling words in SWR. The primer was widely used for over a hundred and fifty years. Even today, many use this book as a first reader. One mom wrote that her son went to sleep clutching this book, the first he ever read. Click the image above to see two sample pages from the book. First is one of the nine reading selections that Wanda Sanseri added to expand the book. Each selection has a matching Bible verse. Next is a famous portion from the original primer: the ABC's taught with rhyme and illustrated with enduring woodcut drawings. Beautiful, hard cover edition in larger print and formatted for modern readers.