The story of these readers is told in the specimens of the several
editions, in the long treasured and time-worn contracts, in the books of
accounts kept by the successive publishers, and in the traditions which
have been passed down from white haired men who gossiped of the early
days in the schoolbook business. Valuable information has also been
furnished by descendants of the McGuffey family, and by the educational
institutions with which each of the authors of the readers was
connected.

[Different Editions]

For half a century the present writer has had personal knowledge of the
readers. At first, as a teacher, using them daily in the class room; but
soon, as an editor, directing the literary work of the publishers and
owners. It therefore falls to him to narrate a story "quorum pars minima
fui."

For more than seventy years the McGuffey Readers have held high rank as
text-books for use in the elementary schools, especially throughout the
West and South. But during this time these books have been revised five
times and adjusted to the changed conditions in the schools. In each one
of these revisions the marked characteristics of the original series
have been most scrupulously retained, and the continued success of the
series is doubtless owing to this fact. There has been a continuity of
spirit.

[Contents of the Books]

The First and Second Readers were first published in 1836. In 1837 the