History of Reading News. Vol.XVI No.2 (1993:Spring)

The John A. Nietz Old Textbook Collection, housed at the Special Collections Department of the University of Pittsburgh, has over 15,000 volumes. The bulk of the collection consists of old primary and secondary school texts, most of which were published before 1900. The smaller part of the collection (uncataloged) contains books on the history and theory of education as well as writings of key figures in the educational field. In size, the collection is rivaled only by the collections at Columbia University and Harvard University.

The earliest English language text in the collection is a copy of Humphrey Hody's The Royal Grammar (London, 1695). The earliest American schoolbook is A Youth's Instructor in the English Tongue: Or, the Art of Spelling Improved (Boston, 1762).

John Nietz, then Professor of Education at the University of Pittsburgh, donated 9,000 volumes to the library in 1957 to create the collection. It formed the basis for Nietz's Old Textbooks (Pittsburgh, 1966) and for 24 dissertations and theses at the University of Pittsburgh.

The bulk of the collection has been catalogued and is available on the O.C.L.C. system nationally. For further information, write the Special Collections Department, University of Pittsburgh Library System, 363 Hillman Library, Pittsburgh, PA 15260, or call (412) 648-8190.