Originally published in 1788, this book is considered the second largest selling book of all time after the Bible. Bound in a distinctive blue cover, it earned the nickname "the blue-backed speller." Used by American children as the standard text over the span of nearly a century, this facsimile reproduction of the 1827 edition, complete with traditional blue binding, recaptures school days gone by.

The 18th century was a wealth of knowledge, exploration and rapidly growing technology and expanding record-keeping made possible by advances in the printing press. In its determination to preserve the century of revolution, Gale initiated a revolution of its own: digitization of epic proportions to preserve these invaluable works in the largest archive of its kind. Now for the first time these high-quality digital copies of original 18th century manuscripts are available in print, making them highly accessible to libraries, undergraduate students, and independent scholars.Delve into what it was like to live during the eighteenth century by reading the first-hand accounts of everyday people, including city dwellers and farmers, businessmen and bankers, artisans and merchants, artists and their patrons, politicians and their constituents. Original texts make the American, French, and Industrial revolutions vividly contemporary.++++The below data was compiled from various identification fields in the bibliographic record of this title. This data is provided as an additional tool in helping to insure edition identification: ++++British LibraryW029521New Haven: Printed by Read & Morse, 1800. 29, 1]p.; 8