Author(s): William Fordyce Mavor

Reference

The English Spelling Book by William Fordyce Mavor was original published in 1801. Numerous editions followed including this enchanting version, profusely illustrated by Kate Greenaway and representing a high point in the creation of early pictorial ABCs. The story of the English language - and how the written word, vocabulary and spelling mutated through a maelstrom of politics, economics, and accident - presents a fascinating journey. Emerging from the Dark Ages, spelling evolved through the Norman domination, absorbed the language of Geoffrey Chaucer, was illuminated by medieval monks and explored in William Tyndale's modern English Bible in 1525. Some words saw curious changes at the hands of early printers and not until the birth of the dictionary under the painstaking custody of Samuel Johnson in 1755 were any English spellings fixed - and then they would be rididly maintained despite sweeping reforms elsewhere. Few other languages proffer as many inconsistencies: learning to read became quite a challenge. Educational aids included the hornbook, gingerbread leters, folded card battledores, primers, readers, spellers, Biblical texts and stories with a moral message. There might be notes on pronunciation, advise to young persons and lists of English royalty. During the later 1800s, ABC books became more widely written and published, as books for young children grew ever more popular and available. These included stories and pictorial elements to add to the fun. Certainly Kate Greenaway's illustrations injected gentle humour and affection into a learning process that the culmination of history and change had made so very complicated.