While an illustrated alphabet in rhyme, the shorter catechism, and selections of prayers and Bible verses remained the unchanging core of The New-England Primer, variations in the text from edition to edition were common and became a barometer of changing cultural codes and priorities.

NPR: Excerpt: 'Minders of Make-Believe'

For many years the Catholic Church discouraged translation of the official Latin Vulgate edition for fear that the text might be corrupted or misinterpreted.

UNESCO: The Freedom to read

This edition has been converted from a public domain text and adds hypertext browsing for quick navigation.

CNN: Top 10 free e-books

Although the script slants to the right and looks unfamiliar to modern Arabic speakers, the text itself is almost exactly what you would find in a modern printed edition.

BBC: The Koran through the ages

So he presented himself in the original edition as the editor, claiming that an anonymous couple had handed him the text, which he had merely tweaked and contextualised.

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