A Common American Language
Noah Webster (1758-1843)
The Elementary Spelling Book.
New York: G.F. Cooledge: [1829]
Rare Book & Special
Collections Division (102C)
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Noah Webster (1758-1843), a young rural Connecticut school teacher,
used his own money to publish his first speller in 1783. His uniform
system of pronunciation and spelling helped to unify the new American
nation under a common "American" language. Although the book was
reissued and revised throughout the nineteenth century, it was
the 1829 edition, appearing in blue covers, that became the familiar "blue-back
speller," selling more copies in America than any book except the
Bible.
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