National school series. The school primer, or, the child's eibst stebs [sic] in reading and spelling, dbsignbd [sic] as introductory to Parker's school readers. [With:] Sargents Standard school primer..

n.p., n.d. [but Japan, 1859. An interesting and instructive look at how the Japanese learned English in the generation following Admiral Perry's opening of Japan. 2 volumes in 1, oblong fukurotoji, 5.5" x 8", approx. 198 french-fold pages sewn in the Japanese manner in contemporary and almost certainly original brown paper wrappers; minor working and wear, but in all a very good and striking example of a Japanese student's workbook for the attainment of English. The book has apparently been copied from American primers published by A. S. Barnes in New York in 1857, and Sargent's School Primer, Boston, 1859; both contain a variety of reading and spelling lessons "especially adapted to the capacity and taste of young children. It is hoped that it will proved [sic] valuable introduction to the national series of school readers prepared by Richard G. Parker." Both Parker's and Sargent's primers were available in bi-lingual editions in the Japanese market. Might this be the manuscript from which a printer might have used to publish the Japanese editions? Throughout, the English text, which has been carefully written in ink, is often translated interlineally in red ink with Japanese characters creating an attractive visual appearance on the page. Included are 3 pages of alphabets, simple sentences, often in rhyme ("A cart for me / to ride and see / A ship at sea / with you and me."