Every man, if he
has any originality of mind, has of course some peculiar method of his
own, and he can of course prepare a text-book which will be better
adapted to this method than those ordinarily in use. The history of a
vast number of text-books, Arithmetics, Geographies, and Grammars, is
this: A man of somewhat ingenious mind, adopts some peculiar mode of
instruction in one of these branches, and is quite successful, not
because the method has any very peculiar excellence, but simply because
he takes a greater interest in it, both on account of its novelty and
also from the fact that it is his own invention. He conceives the plan
of writing a text-book to develop and illustrate this method. He hurries
through the work. By some means or other he gets it printed. In due time
it is regularly advertised. The journals of education give notice of it;
the author sends a few copies to his friends, and that is the end of it.
Perhaps a few schools may make a trial of it, and if, for any reason,
the teachers who try it are interested in the work, probably in their
hands it succeeds. But it does not succeed so well as to attract general
attention, and consequently does not get into general circulation. The
author loses his time and his patience. The publisher, unless,
unfortunately, it was published on the author's account, loses his
paper, and in a few months scarcely any body knows that such a book ever
saw the light.
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