Scarce, Wonderful, Much Worn and Torn 1844 New National Primer with Hand-sewn Repair Everywhere holy cross tightly bound and very lovely

tightly bound and very lovely

now they're the right size to hang around one's neck or indeed to loop a key ring through

with some of the original white paint still holding on the chipmunks

with levers that can be raised or lowered manually to move the arrows

Probably mid-20th century or so

Scarce, Wonderful, Much Worn and Torn 1844 New National Primer with Hand-sewn Repair Everywhere holy cross tightly bound and very lovelyThis one is quite a tattered state, no great surprise for a paper cover reader 180+ plus years old, really, and one which was clearly very much read and studied. What makes it especially beautiful to me though in addition to its marvelous engravings of insects and fishes, birds and objects, clocks and presidents and historic events including the battles of Lexington and Bunker Hill are the hand stitched mends repairing tears to most every page, and