1939 printing of the 1838 copyrighted text. This later printing contains additional text and illustrations, despite the same copyright year as the prior edition. The author is credited as Principal of Green Street Seminary and the author of other books. A collection of composition exercises consisting of stories to be analyzed, descriptions, skeletons of letters, analysis of poetry and scripture, general subjects, discussions, poetical exercises, an epitome of rhetoric, an a list of subjects for compositions. The method proposed is in opposition to teaching children in language they do not understand. It emphasizes given children clear conceptions of things before providing them with those things' names. The text includes some pictorial illustrations. The Schultz Archive's copy is roughly the complete text.
1839 printing, the second edition - stereotyped, copyrighted 1839. The author has a Master of Arts degree and is credited at Professor of Belles Lettres in the High School of Philadelphia. Conceived as an alternative to texts which teach composition through an emphasis on words and phrases and neglect things, which form the substratum of thought. The text is a course of composition exercises on pictures and real objects. The first edition of 3,000 copies sold out, prompting a second edition which included additions of pictures and a section on dialogue writing. The work has three sections: Introductory Course of Easy Exercises, Structure of Sentences, and Figurative Language. The first section covers description of objects and scenes, subjects for description and narration, and narration of real and imaginary incidents. The second section covers parts of speech and exercises in composition focusing on qualities of style such as clearness, precision, strength, unity, and harmony. The book features many heavily detailed pictorial illustrations. The Schultz Archive copy is roughly the complete text.
1839 printing, copyrighted 1839. The author has a Master of Arts degree and is credited at Professor of Belles Lettres in the High School of Philadelphia. Conceived as an alternative to texts which teach composition through an emphasis on words and phrases and neglect things, which form the substratum of thought. The text is a course of composition exercises on pictures and real objects. The work has three sections: Introductory Course of Easy Exercises, Structure of Sentences, and Figurative Language. The first section covers description of objects and scenes, subjects for description and narration, and narration of real and imaginary incidents. The second section covers parts of speech and exercises in composition focusing on qualities of style such as clearness, precision, strength, unity, and harmony. The book features many heavily detailed pictorial illustrations. The Schultz Archive copy is roughly the complete text.
No information regarding edition or printing is in the copy. No information on the author is provided. Balch's addition to the list of grammar handbooks seeks to improve the methods of grammar instruction by rendering language study more scientific (and less like an art) and less focused on mere rule memorization. The author hopes that such a transformation will make the study of grammar more interesting for high school students because they will be encouraged to create their own models. He is interested in "the essential principles of human speech and the best method of constructing sentences according to the idiom of the English language." The preface also interestingly states that "[t]he inseparable connexion between words, ideas, and things, is carefully observed." The Schultz Archive only includes a brief excerpt of the cover page, contents, preface, introduction and a short section of text. The text is legible, but some highlighting does obscure throughout.