This series of schoolbooks teaching reading and moral precepts, originally prepared by William Holmes who was a professor at Miami University McGuffey, had a profound influence on public education in the United States. The eclectic readers, meaning that the selections were chosen from a number of sources, were considered remarkably literary works and probably exerted a greater influence upon literary tastes in the United States more than any other book, excluding the Bible.
It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person's name has come close to that mark. McGuffey's Readers are still in use today in some school systems, and by parents for home schooling purposes.
In the sixth and final reader of 1885, there were 186 selections, 111 great authors were quoted such as Shakespeare, Longfellow, Dickens and Addison. The theme of the selections included several forms of composition, description, narration, argumentation and exposition. In this book there were also seventeen selections from the Bible.
William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 – May 4, 1873) was an American professor and college president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, one of the nation's first and most widely used series of textbooks. It is estimated that at least 122 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary.
He was born the son of Alexander and Anna (Holmes) McGuffey near Claysville in Washington County, Pennsylvania, which is 45 miles southwest of Pittsburgh. In 1802 the McGuffey family moved further out into the frontier at Tuscarawas County, Ohio. He attended country school, and after receiving special instruction at Youngstown, he attended Greersburg Academy in Darlington, Pennsylvania. Afterwards, he attended and graduated from Pennsylvania's Washington College, where he became an instructor.
He was close friends with Washington College's President Andrew Wylie and lived in Wylie's house for a time; they often would walk the 3 miles to Washington College together.
McGuffey's house in OxfordMcGuffey left Washington College in 1826 to become a professor at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. A year later in 1827, he was married to Harriet Spinning of Dayton, Ohio, with whom he had five children. In 1829, he was ordained at Bethel Chapel as a minister in the Presbyterian Church. It was in Oxford that he created the most important contribution of his life: The McGuffey Readers. His books sold over 122 million copies. He was very fond of teaching and children as he geared the books toward a younger audience.
In 1836, he left Miami to become president of Cincinnati College, where he also served as a distinguished teacher and lecturer. He left Cincinnati in 1839 to become the 4th president of Ohio University, which he left in 1843 to become president of Woodward College (really a secondary school) in Cincinnati.
In 1845, McGuffey moved to Charlottesville, Virginia where he became Professor of Philosophy at the University of Virginia. A year after his first wife Harriet died in 1850, he married Miss Laura Howard, daughter of Dean Howard of the University of Virginia, in 1851. McGuffey is buried in the university burial ground, in Charlottesville, Virginia. The School of Education at Miami University is housed in McGuffey Hall which is named for him and his home in Oxford is a National Historic Landmark offering tours on weekdays.
【目录】
LESSON 1 ANECDOTE OF THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE
LESSON 2 THE NEEDLE
LESSON 3 DAWN
LESSON 4 DESCRIPTION OF A STORM
LESSON 5 AFTER THE THUNDERSTORM
LESSON 6 HOUSE CLEANING
LESSON 7 SCHEMES OF LIFE OFTEN ILLUSORY
LESSON 8 THE BRAVE OLD OAK
LESSON 9 THE ARTIST SURPRISED
LESSON 10 PICTURES OF MEMORY
LESSON 11 THE MORNING ORATORIO
LESSON 12 SHORT SELECTIONS IN POETRY
LESSON 13 DEATH OF LITTLE NELL
LESSON 14 VANITY OF LIFE
LESSON 15 A POLITICAL PAUSE
LESSON 16 MY EXPERIENCE IN ELOCUTION
LESSON 17 ELEGY IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD
LESSON 18 TACT AND TALENT
LESSON 19 SPEECH BEFORE THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION
LESSON 20 THE AMERICAN FLAG
LESSON 21 IRONICAL EULOGY ON DEBT
LESSON 22 THE THREE WARNINGS
LESSON 23 THE MEMORY OF OUR FATHERS
LESSON 24 SHORT SELECTIONS IN PROSE
LESSON 25 THE JOLLY OLD PEDAGOGUE
LESSON 26 THE TEACHER AND SICK SCHOLAR
LESSON 27 THE SNOW SHOWER
LESSON 28 CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
LESSON 29 NAPOLEON AT REST
LESSON 30 WAR
LESSON 31 SPEECH OF WALPOLE IN REPROOF OF MR. PITT
LESSON 32 PITT’S REPLY TO SIR ROBERT WALPOLE
LESSON 33 CHARACTER OF MR. PITT
LESSON 34 THE SOLDIER’S REST
LESSON 35 HENRY V. TO HIS TROOPS
LESSON 36 SPEECH OF PAUL ON MARS HILL
LESSON 37 GOD IS EVERYWHERE
LESSON 38 LAFAYETTE AND ROBERT RAIKES
LESSON 39 FALL OF CARDINAL WOLSEY
LESSON 40 THE PHILOSOPHER
LESSON 41 MARMION AND DOUGLAS
LESSON 42 THE PRESENT
LESSON 43 THE BAPTISM
LESSON 44 SPARROWS
LESSON 45 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH
LESSON 46 GOD’S GOODNESS TO SUCH AS FEAR HIM
LESSON 47 CHARACTER OF COLUMBUS
LESSON 48 “HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP”
LESSON 49 DESCRIPTION OF A SIEGE
LESSON 50 MARCO BOZZARIS
LESSON 51 SONG OF THE GREEK BARD
LESSON 52 NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
LESSON 53 LOCHIEL’S WARNING
LESSON 54 ON HAPPINESS OF TEMPER
LESSON 55 THE FORTUNE TELLER
LESSON 56 RIENZI’S ADDRESS TO THE ROMANS
LESSON 57 CHARACTER OF THE PURITAN FATHERS OFNEW ENGLAND
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