Bidspirit auction | 1822 Murray, Lindley. The English

1822 Murray, Lindley. The English Reader. Williams, Orton, & Co. - This 1822 edition of The English Reader; or Pieces in Prose and Poetry was authored by Lindley Murray and published in Hamilton, New York, by Williams, Orton, & Co. The work was designed as a pedagogical tool to assist young persons in reading with propriety and effect while inculcating principles of piety and virtue. This small duodecimo volume is bound in its original full brown sheepskin, featuring horizontal gilt bands and a fragmentary red leather title label on the spine showing the letters E and R. The title page transcribes the full subtitle and author information, including his status as the author of an English Grammar. The text block is composed of 245 numbered pages, concluding with a table of contents and the word FINIS. Significant period manuscript notations are present on the front endpapers, including the names Asa Barnes and Lewis Ross, with the latter accompanied by the date December 14, 1833. A later pencil notation reading 130 old is also visible on the front flyleaf. The original sheepskin binding shows significant age-related wear, including extensive scuffing, rubbing, and loss of leather at the corners and spine ends. The boards are tender at the joints. The interior pages exhibit heavy foxing, tanning, and prominent water staining in the lower margins throughout the volume. There is a small loss to the bottom right corner of the title page and several pages are dog-eared. The paper is somewhat brittle, but the binding remains intact.