Bailey, R. W. English Grammar: A Simple, Concise, and Comprehensive Manual of The English Language; Designed for the Use of Schools, Academies, and as a Book for General Reference in the Language; In Four Parts. Portland: Merrill & Whitman, 1855. Tenth Edition. [9571]
Leather spine, printed paper over boards, 7 1/2 x 4 7/8 inches, covers edge-worn with some stains, but tight and secure. 240 pp., foxing, tight. Good. Hardcover.
Rufus William Bailey (1793-1863), b. North Yarmouth, ME; d. Huntsville, TX. Bailey graduated at Dartmouth (1813), taught school in Salisbury, NH, and read law with Daniel Webster (1815), before deciding to enter the ministry. After theological studies at Andover he was ordained (1819) and became pastor of the Congregational Church in Norwich, VT. He also taught philosophy in the school which became Norwich University. He moved to Staunton, Virginia, in 1842, founding the Augusta Female Seminary (now Mary Baldwin University). In 1849 he became the Virginia agent for the American Colonization Society. He was not an abolitionist, but supported the repatriation of freed slaves to Africa. Bailey moved to Texas in 1854, becoming professor of languages at Austin College.
He was a prolific author throughout his career, with his greatest success being his "English Grammar," a textbook that was reprinted ten times by 1855.
