Introduction to The young ladies' elocutionary reader : containing a selection of reading lessons, together with the rudiments of elocution : adapted to female readers

Front matter

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S4S

JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY,

Introduction

11! 90.

TO THE

YOUNG LADIES'

ELOCUTIONARY READER:

CONTAINING

A SELECTION OF READING LESSONS:

TOGETHER WITH

THE RUDIMENTS OF ELOCUTION,

ADAPTED TO FEMALE READERS.

WILLIAM AND ANNA U. RUSSELL,

AUTHORS OF THE ABOVE-MENTIONED READER.

V

BOSTON: JAMES MUNROE AND COMPANY.

£ 3 : ^

Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1845, by William Russell, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.

THE YOUNG LADIES' ELOCUTIONARY READER,

containing a Selection of Reading Lessons, by Anna U. Russell, and the Rules of Elocution, adapted to Female Readers, by William Russell. Also, THE INTRODUCTION TO THE SAME, for Younger Classes.

These works are intended to combine, in each volume, the twofold advantage of a series of Reading Lessons, selected under the special influence of feminine taste and habits, with a manual of Elocution, adapted expressly to the systematic instruction of females, in the art of reading.

From Miss A. C. Hasseltine, Principal of Bradford Academy, Bradford, Ms.

" I have examined the manuscript, plan, and contents of the i Young Ladies' Reader/ and am free to say, that the importance of the various Rules and Exercises in Eloeution, and the fine selection of Pieces for Reading Lessons, will render it a very desirable work to be introduced into all our female schools. We shall not hesitate to introduce it into our academy as soon as it is published."

From Mr. George B. Emerson, Instructor, Boston.

u I have carefully examined the plan of the l Young Ladies 7 Reader j 7 and I like it so well — both the introductory portion and the selections — that I say, without hesitation, I should immediately adopt it, as a reading book, in my own school, if it should be published."

From Mr. Asa Farwell, Principal of Abbot Female Academy, Andover, Ms. " The plan of the l Young Ladies' Reader/ strikes me very favourably. The Selections are judiciously made 5 and the Introductory Rules will be exceedingly valuable. Such a work, in schools for young ladies, will occupy a place for which there is not now, so far as my knowledge extends, any suitable textbook. The volume will be looked for with pleasure 5 and, when published, we shall introduce it into our academy. 77 v .„ . £}\

From Rev. Hubbard Winslow, Boston. \ * •<? %^is

"I have examined the plan and many of the extracts for the l Young Ladies' Reader/ and have no doubt of the great merit of the work. I shall introduce it into my school. May it find its deserved success, generally ! 77

From the Connecticut Courant, Hartford.

"Here is a book worth having, — well prepared, well printed, and adapted to the wants of the times. The accomplishment of fine elocution has never taken its just rank, in our systems of female education. The unwillingness and even inability of many young ladies to read aloud in company, or to entertain the domestic circle, are pitiful results of years devoted to school-culture. We quote a few sentences on this subject, from the excellent treatise with which the volume commences. 77

" The rules given for the management of the voice, evince judgment and experience 3 and the taste exhibited in a copious selection from the treasures of elegant literature, is fine, and unexceptionable. We are truly glad that this important subject has been taken up, by pens so competent to illustrate it, and trust that a book which so happily combines eloquence with practical v/isdom, will find the favour that it deserves, from the teachers and pupils of our country. 77

STEREOTYPED AT THE BOSTON TYPE AND STEREOTYPE FOUNDRY.

Preface

The present volume is designed, as its title indicates, to precede the Young Ladies' Elocutionary Reader. The pieces are, accordingly, selected from passages adapted to the capacity and the taste of younger classes than those for whose use the Reader was prepared.

The preliminary rudiments of elocution, which precede the extracts contained in this Introduction, have been selected with a view to aid in laying the foundation of a correct, distinct, and appropriate style of reading. The comparative extent to which the study of elocution has, of late years, been carried, requires, m many schools, a more exact and systematic course of instruction than formerly, in this branch of education ; and the extensive adoption, by intelligent teachers, and influential institutions, of the theory of elocution presented by Dr. James Rush, renders the practical application of his analysis an important part of elementary teaching.

The rudiments and principles presented in this Introduction, as well as in the Reader, have therefore been arranged in adaptation to the views exhibited in Dr. Rush's Philosophy of the Human Voice, — but, at the same time, in such a manner, it is thought, as not to cause any difficulty to instructors who prefer to follow the systems of Walker, Knowles, Dr. Porter, or that of one of the authors of the present work, nor even to impede those who choose to follow, exclusively, a course of practical oral instruction, accommodated to every class of their pupils, separately.

Teachers who make use of this Introduction and the Reader which follows it, will, it is hoped, derive essential aid, — in instructing classes still younger than those for which these volumes were compiled, — from the use of Russell's Elementary Series ; including a Primer, Spelling-book, Primary Reader, and Sequel. These books, along with the Young Ladies' Elocutionary Reader, and this Introduction, are intended to furnish all the successive steps of spelling, reading, and elocution, requisite for the instruction of female pupils.