THE CHILD'S GUIDE, TO SPELLING AND READING; OR AN ATTEMPT TO FACILITATE THE PROGRESS OF SMALL CHILDREN WHEN FIRST SENT TO SCHOOL. Philadelphia: Printed and Sold by Mathew Carey, 1810. Fourth Edition.
Chapbook. Un-illustrated. The book is opened to the title page to show the copyright statement. Original paste printed wrappers. Copyright is a very complex issue and was so in the 18th and 19th centuries as well. British copyright (first law enacted in 1709), "subsists automatically." In the United States, (first law 1790), a book published outside the U. S. had to be registered in the U.S. to qualify for copyright. Under a 1909 U. S. law, outside publishers or authors had five years of protection if the book was in English. This "Ad Interim" copyright could be extended and upgraded to full term of 28 years if an American edition was published with a copyright notice within those five years.

The Berne Convention established rules worldwide in 1866 but the United States was not a member. The problem with copyright is that every country has different laws and an attempt to establish universal copyright law has always failed. The cost of registering for copyright would have discouraged publishers of children's books, especially chapbooks. Most famously, PETER RABBIT was not copyright in the United States which is why it immediately appeared with different illustrations. Exhibit checklist 9.1 (View this item)

KELLEY'S FIRST SPELLING BOOK, CHILD'S INSTRUCTOR. By Hall Jackson Kelley. Concord, N.H.: I. Hill, 1827. Eight edition. Stereotyped at the Boston Type and Stereotype Foundry.
Woodcut illustrations, hand colored, with drawings by a former owner. Exhibit checklist 9.3 (View this item)

THE INFANT'S GRAMMAR, OR A PIC-NIC PARTY OF THE PARTS OF SPEECH. London: J. Harris and Son, 1824. Printed by S. R. Bentley, London.
Chapbook with intaglio illustrations, hand colored. Similar to RUDIMENTS OF GRAMMAR but the characters are even more lively and colorful. Exhibit checklist 9.4 (View this item)

LESSONS IN ELOCUTION: OR, SELECTION OF PIECES, IN PROSE AND VERSE, FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF YOUTH IN READING AND SPEAKING. By William Scott. Plymouth, MA.: Ezra Collier,1825. Stereotyped by T. H. Carter & Co.
Woodcut illustrations, uncolored. Exhibit checklist 9.5 (View this item)

LESSONS IN ELOCUTION: OR, SELECTION OF PIECES, IN PROSE AND VERSE, FOR THE IMPROVEMENT OF YOUTH IN READING AND SPEAKING. By William Scott. Thomas's Third edition. Boston: Isaiah Thomas, Jun., N. Cheever, printer, [1811?].
Woodcut illustrations, hand colored by former owner. Exhibit checklist 9.6 (View this item)

THE YOUNG GENTLEMAN AND LADY'S MONITOR. By John Hamilton Moore, London: printed; New York: re-printed by Hugh Gaine, 1796. 10th edition.
Woodcut illustrations, uncolored. This book is typical of imprints from the United States prior to 1800. The paper is very poor quality in comparison to English paper with its high rag content. Includes a student's doodle of putting a beard on the illustration for instruction on gesturing when presenting speeches. Note that the same illustrations are used as from the Scott above. Original tree calf binding. Exhibit checklist 9.7 (View this item)

THE SPELLING BOARD. 19th century device for spelling exercises. Exhibit checklist L.65 (View this item)

RUDIMENTS OF GRAMMAR IN VERSE; OR, A PARTY TO THE FAIR by Madame Linstien. London: Dean and Munday of Threadneedle-Street, [1820-1829].
Wood engraved illustrations, hand colored. The parts of speech are illustrated by jolly figures. Exhibit checklist L.66 (View this item)

THE COLUMBIAN GRAMMAR; OR AN ESSAY FOR REDUCING A GRAMMATICAL KNOWLEDGE OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE TO A DEGREE OF SIMPLICITY, WHICH WILL RENDER IT EASY FOR THE INSTRUCTOR TO TEACH. By Benjamin Dearborn. Boston: Printed by S. Hall for the author, 1795.
Un-illustrated. This copy is an inscribed presentation copy dated 1830. Exhibit checklist L.67 (View this item)