Noah Webster's Spelling Book

The following is a page from Webster's Spelling Book, where in Table XV he told the History of the Creation of the World...

"In six days God made the world, and all things that are in it. He made the sun to shine by day, and the moon to give light by night. He made all the beasts that walk on the earth, all the birds that fly in the air, and all the fish that swim in the sea. Each herb, and plant, and tree, is the work of His hands. All things, both great and small, that live, and move, and breathe in this wide world, to Him do owe their birth, to Him their life. And God saw that all the things He made were good. But as yet there was not a man to till the ground: so God made man of the dust of the earth, and gave him rule over all that He had made. And the man gave names to all the beasts of the field; the fowls of the air, and the fish of the sea. But there was not found a helpmeet for man; so God brought on him a deep sleep, and then took from his side a rib, of which He made a wife, and her to the man, and her name was Eve: And from these two came all the sons of man."

This little book made its appearance in October of 1785, in the blue cloth cover, which it wore forever after. It cost the equivalent of 30 cents. The Speller went west in covered wagons, crossed rivers and mountains, stood on a special shelf with the Bible and almanack in country homes; becoming the backbone of American education. In the course of Noah
Webster's lifetime nearly 25,000,000 copies were sold. After he died it continued to sell up to a total of 100,000,000 copies. Probably no book, excepting the Bible, has had a better sale over a period of years.