First printing: title page and copyright page match dates. Tight, clean, flat, square, sharp and crisp book in DJ with some toning, nicks and wear. Spine of the jacket is sunned. Typical mid century college text book style cloth boards and ink titles. Illustrated. English Primers--the first widely disseminated literacy tools of the Government of England (if not any government) consisted of a biblical story, illustrative of some moral truth important to those charged with maintaining the faith in the midst of religious wars and apostate Kings right on their door step. As literacy grew, these little books broadened in scope but not in purpose and are collected today as Penny Library and related times with paper, card and even board wraps. We always seem to have several on offer. This book has been reprinted several times, the first some 25 years after this book was shelved by a local professor of English literature. At this writing there are half a dozen copies available . This is the ONLY original copy.