by W.H. McGuffey which in all the subsequent revisions have borne his
name and retained the impress of his mind.

The First Reader made a thin 18mo book of seventy-two pages, having
green paper covered sides; the Second Reader contained one hundred and
sixty-four pages of the same size. The Third Reader had a larger page
and was printed as a duodecimo of one hundred and sixty-five pages. The
fourth Reader ranked in size with the Third and contained three hundred
and twenty-four printed pages. Each was printed from the type, which was
distributed when the required number for the edition came from the
press.

By the terms of the contract the publishers paid a royalty of ten per
cent on all copies sold until the copyright should reach the sum of one
thousand dollars, after which the Readers became the absolute property
of the publishers. It must be remembered that in those days this sum of
money seemed much larger than it would at the present time, and it may
be questioned whether this newly organized firm of publishers commanded
as much as a thousand dollars in their entire business. At any rate
the contract was mutually satisfactory and remained so to the end of
the author's life. Right here it seems proper to remark that although
the McGuffey readers became the property of the publishers when the
royalties reached one thousand dollars. Dr. McGuffey was employed by the
publishers in connection with important revisions so long as he lived
and the contracts specify a "satisfactory consideration" in each case.

[Later Contracts]

When, after the Civil War, these readers attained a sale which became
very profitable to the firm then owning the copyrights, the partners,