The Plowshare and the American Reporter together with the Cosmopolitan, 1852 and 1853

Washington [D.C.]: Henry M. Parkhurst, 1853. 16mo (6.5" x 4.5") consisting of bound issues from year IV, no. 11 to year V, no. 34 of The Plowshare, two issues of The Cosmopolitan, and year V, no. 16 to year VI, no. 30 of The American Reporter, as issued. Pp. [4], 172, 8, 68; text in "reform spelling" characters, The Cosmopolitan entirely in the cosmophonetic alphabet; original green publisher's cloth, gilt, very good and sound. Established in 1849, The Plowshare was a vehicle to propagate Parkhurst's reformed spelling system, which attempted to more accurately express the pronunciation of words. The articles themselves cover a number of subjects dear to the editor's heart. Included are articles on phonography generally and his system of cosmophonography particularly, astronomy, civil rights, chess, universal language, and the occasional foray into mysticism (Parkhurst would later publish the pamphlet Diana, a foundational text of the mysto-sexual practice of Dianism).