American Textbooks: Colonial Days to 1960: Reading series

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The iconic "Dick and Jane" readers were published by the Chicago-based Scott, Foresman Company.

"Dick and Jane" volumes in Special Collections include:

• Fun with Dick and Jane (1940)
• Basic Readers series (Fun with Dick and Jane is no. 1.1 of this series)
• Curriculum Foundation Series (Fun with Dick and Jane is also part of this series)
• New Basic Readers series (updated from the Basic Readers; published 1955-1965)

A parallel series was produced for Catholic parochial schools:

• Fun with John and Jean, first title in the Cathedral Basic Readers
• Additional titles in the Cathedral Basic Readers series

Background:

• Moran, Edward. "Dick and Jane Readers." St. James Encyclopedia of Popular Culture. Ed. Thomas Riggs. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Detroit: St. James Press, 2013. 100-101.

McGuffey's Readers were a series of graded texts, ranging from phonics and basic reading exercises (First) up to selections for high school students (Sixth).

William H. McGuffey (1800-73) created the first McGuffey Readers in the 1830s, and his brother Alexander H. McGuffey (1816-96) carried on the work thereafter.

There were multiple editions and revisions of each title. MSU Special Collections has 46 McGuffey volumes, including:

• McGuffey's First Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's New First Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's Second Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's New Second Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's Third Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's New Third Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's Fourth Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's New Fourth Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's Fifth Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's New Fifth Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's New Sixth Eclectic Reader
• McGuffey's Eclectic Spelling Book
• McGuffey's New Eclectic Spelling Book
• McGuffey's Eclectic Primer

Background: Lukens, Rebecca. "William Holmes McGuffey." American Writers for Children Before 1900. Ed. Glenn E. Estes. Detroit: Gale, 1985. Dictionary of Literary Biography Vol. 42.