Math & Money

Books about numbers escaped most of the burdens that plagued the creators of primers and readers. Books aimed at teaching arithmetic, geometry and currencies were often colorful, full of graphic diagrams, sometimes humorous, and (perhaps most importantly) free of religion and morality. Multiplication books had pictures claiming certain counts and it would be irresistible for the student not to check the illustrator's accuracy in those counts.



Victorian Pencil Holder With Mechanical Multiplier

VICTORIAN PENCIL HOLDER WITH MECHANICAL MULTIPLIER. Patent date of 1898. Color lithographed tin. Measurements are in inches and centimeters. Exhibit checklist 7.1 (View this item)

North American Arithmetic Part First, For Young Learners

NORTH AMERICAN ARITHMETIC PART FIRST, FOR YOUNG LEARNERS. By Frederick Emerson. Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., ©1838.
Woodcut illustrations, uncolored. Here various images are used for learning addition, including girls singing, pear trees, robins, shovels, tops, vials and keys. Exhibit checklist 7.11 (View this item)

WIE VIEL SIND'S? : EIN BILDERBUCH

WIE VIEL SIND'S? : EIN BILDERBUCH. By Adolf Holst. Illustrated by Arpad Schmidhammer. Mainz: J. Scholz, [190-?].
Relief illustrations, color printed. Open to 5 & 6—girls playing ring-around-the-rosy and boys marching with guns and swords. Exhibit checklist L.43 (View this item)

Contact Us | Preferences | About | Privacy | Make a Gift