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Bad Boy's First Reader

The Bad Boy's First Reader is a 44 page volume written by Frank Bellew and published by G. W. Carleton and Company in 1881. It was in wraps. It is a reprint of Bellew's earlier "That Comic Printer" which was published by Carleton in 1877. The 1877 version was published in cloth ($1.00) and in paper covers (50 cents).

This book consists of pages for each letter of the alphabet (see below) and then a number of practice reading pages. All of the content is humorous but not malicious. This is an early and benign version of a "bad boy".

Frank Bellew (1828-1888) wrote a number of humorous books. He worked as an illustrator/caricaturist for Harper's Weekly, Puck, Harper's Bazaar and other periodicals. He is most well known for being the first artist to draw a picture of Uncle Sam. He did this in 1852 in an issue of the New York Lantern.



Here is the 1881 first edition version of this book with the new title.

 



The title was changed to the Bad Boy Reader in Dillingham and Co.'s later publication. This later edition cost 50 cents. This reprint has not been seen. It appears in 1885-1886 Dillingham advertisements.

 

Last Revision: October 13, 2013