What an “alien” rooster on a reading primer of the 19th century can tell us about reprints, didactic changes and publishers

Abstract

This article uses an unusual 1836 Bernese reading primer as an example to examine the practice of reprinting and the development of didactic methods in the nineteenth century. By comparing (re)prints of the primer available from 1805 to around 1870, the article presents textual, pictorial, and methodological changes and attempts to classify them. The analysis sheds light on the production of teaching materials and publishing during a period when a lack of copyright protection, (limited) didactic expertise, and the economic interests of publishers all played a role.