McGuffey's Sixth Eclectic Reader

McGuffey's Primer #6

by William Holmes McGuffey (Editor)

Since 1836, children have been delighted by these volumes filled with exotic adventures, exciting stories, beautiful poems, and funny fables. The Sixth Eclectic Reader includes selections from Patrick Henry, Sir Walter Scott, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and William Shakespeare.

Genres: Classics, Education, Childrens, Reference, Poetry

480 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1836

About the author

William Holmes McGuffey (September 23, 1800 – May 4, 1873) was an American professor and college president who is best known for writing the McGuffey Readers, one of the nation's first and most widely used series of textbooks. It is estimated that at least 122 million copies of McGuffey Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary.

Reviews

[Lora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like any reading sampler, there are things I really like. But the things I don't like as much aren't that bad by themselves, they're just not to my taste. Not that McGuffey readers are aimed at middle aged women. But there is some beautiful stuff in here. It makes me mourn when I recollect some of the crap my kids have had to read in school. This gives us some decent supplementary reading, the samples are short for the low attention span, and a young mind can learn much of the world's actual significant beauty rather than dwelling on Man-created despair and politically energized ugliness like some of our modern school texts do. This stuff is real, it's rich, it's worth reading. For any age.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I started this when I was pregnant with my second and I have finally finished it (took about 2 years). I didn't enjoy it much at first but though it would be good to have a variety of things that I wouldn't normally read. About half way through I really started to enjoy it and now I'm kind of sad that it's done.

[Kimberly Brooks]

I read this because it was the quarantine and the library was closed and it was on my shelf...and now I can say I've read every book on my living room shelves (except Funk & Wagnell's Standard Encyclopedic Dictionary. I have not--and probably will not--read that).

[Kevin Driskill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amazing piece of educational history. As the name suggests there are many genres included and an excellent section on elocution.

[J SCOTT SHEPARD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hidden treasures of literature

What is taught in school or was taught when I was in school, concealed the basic literature of America, which is represented in Mcguffey’s readers.

[Roniius · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series taught me how to read

[Frank Ashe · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting view of what educated young Americans of the 1840s should be reading.

[Don · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rome took 300 years to die, and much much more.

[Whit · Rating 4 out of 5]

My mom gave me the boxed set of these for Christmas (at my request). I loved this! It is interesting not only for how students were taught and what they were taught but how. The short stories, essays and poems spread throughout are very good and very interesting. Some are still well known but the essays are very entertaining.

[Lauri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love that the writer was a professor once a upon a time at my alma mater. Glad I'm not a student back then, some of those readings were very dry. I think the explanations at the beginning and end of each entry are the most interesting part.