Historical Textbooks

Historical Textbooks and Curricula

Collections

• American Primers
  Regenstein, 3rd Floor Microforms, Call Number: microfcPE1119.A1A575 1990
  This is a collection consisting of 1401 microfiches that includes primers published between 1711 to 1943. The Library's catalog includes records for the individual texts included in the set.
• American primers : guide to the microfiche collection / introductory essay by Richard L. Venezky.
  Regenstein, 4th Floor Reference Collection, Call Number: PE1119.A1A575 1990
• Encyclopaedia Britannica Collection of Literature for Children
  This collection of 19th and 20th century children's books, housed in the Special Collection Research Center, focuese on children's literature. However, there are a few readers and primers included in the collection.
• Center for Research Libraries. Textbook Collection
  More than 70,000 textbooks are in CRL's collections but they are not individually listed in the catalogs. This site describes the collection which covers U.S. textbooks for K-12 in all subject areas published from the 1780s to 1990s, with the bulk of material dating between 1850 and 1970.
• Historical Textbook Collection, Monroe C. Gutman Library, Harvard University
  This collection of primary, secondary and college textbooks in all subject areas contains approximately 35,000 volumes. The collection concentrates on materials published between 1800 and 1950, though there are a few pre-1800 items. Most of the textbooks are American imprints, but a representative collection of European imprints is included. The collection is particularly strong in the areas of reading, history and geography, languages, mathematics and science, and covers all subjects taught in schools from agriculture to zoology.
• 19th Century Schoolbooks
  Made available by the University of Pittsburg Library, this site includes a searchable catalog of the 16,000 volumes comprising the Nietz Old Textbook Collection, a full-text collection of 66 schoolbooks and two surveys of historic schoolbooks by John Nietz, the founder of the Collection. Also available are two documents Using Textbooks as a Research Resource: A Bibliography and Textbooks and Schoolbooks: Resources for Scholars and Researchers.
• Directory of historical textbook and curriculum collections / compiled by the Ad Hoc Historical Textbook and Curriculum Collections Directory Committee, Education and Behavioral Sciences Section, Association of College and Research Libraries ; editor, Judy Walker.
  Regenstein, 4th Floor Reference Collection, Call Number: LB3047 .D57 2005
• ACLR Directory of Curriculum Materials Centers
  An online directory to curriculum materials centers in libraries around the United States and Canada. Older editions are available in print at the Regenstein Library, 4th Floor Reference Collection, Call Number: LB3044.72.D57.

Societies and Journals

• Georg Eckert Institute for International Textbook Research
  Located in Germany, this is a research center on teaching materials in the fields of history, geography, social studies, and pedagogy. It conducts a number of projects with international partners and maintains an international textbook collection. The website includes descriptions of the Institute's collections, publications and multiple research projects.
• International Association for Research on Textbooks and Educational Media (IARTEM)
  IARTEM is an independent, non-profit organization comprised of members working in all fields related to textbook issues and educational media. It organizes bi-annual international research conferences and publishes conference reports.
• Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing (SHARP)
• Society for the Study of Curriculum History
• Paradigm--Journal of the Textbook Colloquim
• Internationale Schulbuchforschung : Zeitschrift des Georg-Eckert-Instituts für Internationale Schulbuchforschun. 2002-Present
  Call number: LB3045.I64. Current Issues: Regenstein Library Current Periodicals and Newspapers. Older Issues: Regenstein, Bookstacks