Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice
Shakespeare’s Midsummer-Night’s Dream
Shakespeare’s As You Like It
Shakespeare’s Macbeth
Shakespeare’s Hamlet,
Sir Roger de Coverley Papers (The Spectator),
Southey’s Life of Nelson
Tennyson’s The Princess,
Webster’s (Daniel) Bunker Hill Orations,
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Sent, postpaid on receipt of price.

Copyright, 1879, by van Antwerp, Bragg & company copyright, 1896, by American book company.  Copyright, 1907 and 1921, by Henry H. Vail.

M’G Rev. 6Th EC. 
EP 118

Preface (3)

In the sixth reader, the general plan of the revision of McGUFFEY’S series has been carefully carried out to completion.

That plan has been to retain, throughout, those characteristic features of McGUFFEY’S readers, which have made the series so popular, and caused their widespread use throughout the schools of the country.  At the same time, the books have been enlarged; old pieces have been exchanged for new wherever the advantage was manifest; and several new features have been incorporated, which it is thought will add largely to the value of the series.

In the revision of the sixth reader, the introductory matter has been retained with but little change, and it will he found very valuable for elocutionary drill.  In the preparation of this portion of the work, free use was made of the writings of standard authors upon Elocution, such as Walker, McCulloch, Sheridan Knowles, Ewing, Pinnock, Scott, Bell, Graham, Mylins, Wood, Rush, and many others.

In making up the Selections for Reading, great care and deliberation have been exercised.  The best pieces of the old book are retained in the revised sixth, and to the these been added a long list of selections from the best English and American literature.  Upwards of one hundred leading authors are represented (see “Alphabetical List. of Authors,” page ix), and thus a wide range of specimens of the best style has been secured.  Close scrutiny revealed the fact that many popular selections common to several series of Readers, had been largely adapted, but in McGUFFEY’S revised readers, wherever it was possible to do so, the selections have been compared, and made to conform strictly with the originals as they appear in the latest editions authorized by the several writers.

The character of the selections, aside from their elocutionary value, has also been duly considered.  It will be found, upon examination, that they present the same instructive merit and healthful moral tone which gave the preceding edition its high reputation.

Two new features of the revised sixth deserve especial attention—­the explanatory notes, and the biographical notices of authors.  The first, in the absence of a large number of books of reference, are absolutely necessary, in some cases, for the intelligent reading of the piece; and it is believed that in all cases they will add largely to the interest and usefulness of the lessons.