Caleb Bingham

Caleb Bingham (born April 15, 1757, Salisbury, Conn. [U.S.]—died April 6, 1817, Boston, Mass., U.S.) was an American educator, textbook author, and bookseller during the four decades following the American Revolution.

Bingham was educated at local schools before entering Dartmouth College in Hanover, N.H. He graduated in 1782 and took the position of master at Moor’s Indian Charity School. In 1784 he moved to Boston in order to establish a school for girls, in which he departed from the standard educational fare for schoolgirls—i.e., penmanship and writing. Bingham’s instruction included arithmetic, grammar, spelling, and reading, and his school attracted the daughters of Boston’s first families.

In 1789 Boston’s public schools were reorganized, and Bingham was offered a position as master of one of three new Reading Schools. He accepted, closed his private school, and taught in the Boston public schools until 1796, when he retired from teaching and devoted the rest of his life primarily to writing, printing, and selling textbooks.

Bingham’s Boston bookstore became a favourite gathering spot for local teachers and a focal point of agitation for free public schools. Bingham was also active in politics, running unsuccessfully several times for the state senate, and his bookstore was a meeting place for Boston’s Jeffersonian Republicans.

Bingham published his first textbook in 1785. The Young Lady’s Accidence; or, A Short and Easy Introduction to English Grammar, prepared for use in his private girls’ school, went through 20 editions and sold 100,000 copies. It was the second English grammar published in the United States. Among his other textbooks were An American Preceptor (1794), The Astronomical and Geographical Catechism (1795), and The Hunters (1814). In addition, he published his own translation of Chateaubriand’s Atala (1802).

Bingham gave a large gift of books to his native Salisbury’s public library, and he promoted public libraries in many New England towns. He served for two years—without pay—as the Boston librarian, and for several years he was director of the state prison.