The New England Primer

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The New England Primer, first published in 1690, was an educational textbook which was published in colonial and the early days of United States history and the first textbook to be printed in the 13 colonies. The 90-page pamphlet contained mostly religious maxims, alphabetical assistants, acronyms and moral lessons. Many of its selections were drawn from the King James Version of the Bible and others were original. It embodied the dominant Puritan attitude and worldview of the day. Among the topics discussed are respect to parental figures, sin, and Salvation. It was published and kept in print well into the 19th century and was even used until the 20th. A reported 2 million copies were sold in the 1700s, and it was first compiled by an English journalist named Benjamin Harris.

Two of the most famous example verses are as follows:

Now I lay me down to sleep,

I pray thee, Lord, my soul to keep;

If I should die before I wake,

I pray thee, Lord, my soul to take.

—1784 ed.

In Adam's Fall,

we sinned all.

[edit] Editions and reprints

There have been many reprints of the New England Primer.

New England Primer: Improved for the More Easy Attaining the True Reading of English: To Which Is Added the Assembly of Divines, and Mr. Cotton's Catechism (1991, WallBuilders; note that this is the 1777 edition). ISBN 0-925279-17-X