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Reinventing the English language...



Item # 707398

November 23, 1850

WECLI FONETIC ADVOCET, Sinsinati, O., Novembur 23, 1850  [Weekly Phonetic Advocate, Cincinnati, Ohio]  This is one of the more curious newspapers of the 19th century.
During this time there was a movement afoot to create a new mode of writing & spelling: to spell words as they sounded, phonetically. Obviously it never caught on, but it did result in this unusual newspaper which is almost entirely written phonetically. This newspaper lasted a bit over 3 years.
The front page: "Explanation" begins: "The Spelling and Writing Reform consists in the introduction of a complete alphabet of 40 letters (which represents all the sounds of the English language.)..." with more, and adjacent to it is the: "English Phonetic Alphabet".
Four pages, a bit irregular at the spine from disbinding, good condition.

Item from our most recent catalog - #362, released for January, 2026

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Category: Pre-Civil War