Walker Collection Catalog - Cunningham Memorial Library - Indiana ...

Introduction
By David Vancil
Rare Books Librarian & Curator of Collections
In 1980 Dr. Benjamin Walker made a donation of 300 early American textbooks,
many of them from New England, thus establishing the collection bearing his name. The
core of the collection, containing primarily nineteenth-century textbooks, provides
examples of seminal school textbooks which influenced the direction both of textbook
writing and of teaching in the United States for scores of years.
In 1987 the Department of Rare Books and Special Collections began to acquire
primarily pre-1900 imprints of textbooks for addition to the Walker Collection.
Meanwhile, in 1992 and 1994, Dr. Walker generously donated additional books. While
many of them were destined for the collection bearing his name, others used in Indiana
were added to the Floyd Family Collection. The Walker Collection now contains over
1,000 titles.
Readers comprise the largest portion of the collection, although after over two
decades of existence, it has grown to include at least several examples from nearly every
part of the school curriculum as well as a few books on the art, or science, of teaching.
Particularly impressive are several editions of New England primers, which were
intended not only to teach students to read but virtues as well.
Relatively few copies of early American textbooks remain extant because of the
hard use they received and because schools themselves discarded many textbooks when
they were deemed no longer useful. Therefore, Dr. Walker's gift, painstakingly amassed
over several generations, serves an especially useful purpose as important examples to
students and researchers.
A Web catalog completed in December 2000 was source for the records used in
this catalog. They have been extensively revised for consistency and accuracy. In turn
this catalog will be used to revise online records. This catalog has been published in a
limited edition of 10 numbered copies, but additional copies will be made available on
demand, so inquiries are welcome.
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December 2001