[Printed pamphlet.] English Line Writing: A New, Simple, and Exact System of Phonetics.

[2] + 52pp., 8vo. In grey printed wraps carrying advertisements. In good condition, on lightly-aged paper. With label and stamp of the Science & Art Department of the Educational Library, London. In tasteful modern quarter-bound boards of light and dark grey paper, with white printed label on front. In the introduction Bell explains that the work is 'not a method of short-hand writing [...] The complete Phonetic Scheme is developed in the section section; in the first section, an alphabet sufficiently complete for the use of children and other beginners, is separately illustrated; and in the third section the theory of the system is explained for the information of students of phonetics.' Pp.6-46 carry examples, many of children's rhymes and stories, with appropriate vignettes. The item is undated, but included as 'JUST PUBLISHED' in the advertisements on the wraps is Bell's 'Essays and Postscripts on Elocution', published in 1886. Uncommon: no copy on COPAC and five copies (all in American libraries) on OCLC WorldCat.