The North American Arithmetic. Part First, Containing Elementary Lessons. (Emerson's First Part)

Cloth-backed paper-covered boards; 12mo, 48pp. First printing, preface dated August 20, 1829. Very Good condition with mild rubbing and soil, small tear in the gutter of the flyleaf where it got stuck to the pastedown, some foxing and faint residual tidemark toward the top edge. Presents nicely with bold print and tight binding. First edition of the exquisitely graphic math text which enjoyed numerous subsequent printings as ... Part First, for Young Learners. Designed for children of 5-8 years upon "the method of instruction practised in the school at Stantz, by the celebrated Pestalozzi..." (preface). Born in New Hampshire, Emerson received a common school education and then immediately entered the teaching profession without any university studies. In the 1820s, he ascended to the role of Writing Master at the Boylston Grammar School in Boston but was embroiled in the politics of education. He had a notably contentious relationship with Horace Mann, who scrutinized the "Association