Back to school, reminds me of text books from days gone by! Arithmetic, Grammar and Reading Primers once crisp and freshly printed, sat on a desk in an American school house waiting for a young student to turn its pages and begin another year of learning. Today, they are still here to be cherished and collected.
Most of the text books I have, would be considered antique as they are at least 100 years old! I don’t know about you but holding these treasures, leafing through the pages and finding notes and names inside make them even more intriguing. Many of them I inherited from my grandmother and have her handwriting and notes in the margins.
I recently read an article called, Collecting Vintage School Text Book Readers on eBay Guide. The author comments on Reading Primers, “Collecting old primers seems to be an extremely popular past time for many today! Most of us seem to be drawn to these vintage school text books. With the turn of each and every page very fond nostalgic memories of school days & simpler times comes flooding back! What a relaxing and fun time to sit, read and enjoy the delightful stories and view the naive yet memorable illustrations presented in these school primers . These cherished vintage books are also lovely items to share and pass down to our children and grand children. These primers offer a simple reading and learning approach that children of today still enjoy and can benefit from.”
I also have my grandmother’s 100 year old Latin text book from High School listed on Grandma’s Treasures Online! It is First Year Latin Prepartory to Ceaser by Charles E. Bennett, Professor of Latin in Cornell University copyright 1909.
Another school text book that is listed is History of American Literature, 1919 edition.
If you are trying to identify and assess the value of a book, Antiquarian Booksellers Association of America is available for those who sell books as a business and want to join as members for the service of book appraisal.
Tell us about your text book collection! Or just reminisce and tell us about your favorite school primers.