McGuffey was born and raised in the Ohio River valley, graduated from Washington and Jefferson College in Pennsylvania and taught at Miami University (Oxford, OH) before accepting the presidency of several area colleges. He was better at teaching than administering and ultimately landed at the University of Virginia where he enjoyed success as a scholar and teacher. In 1836 McGuffey contracted with Truman and Smith to create a series of readers. These 19th century readers readers became some of the best known school books in the history of American education. As of 1961, it is estimated that over 122 million copies had been sold. According to publisher Smith, McGuffey's books were "adapted to the habits, energy, and ideals of the frontier people of the West." Their success relied on careful selection of material, vocabularies and concepts that were challenging and solid morality lessons.
