This series of schoolbooks teaching reading and moral precepts, originally prepared by William Holmes who was a professor at Miami University McGuffey, had a profound influence on public education in the United States. The eclectic readers, meaning that the selections were chosen from a number of sources, were considered remarkably literary works and probably exerted a greater influence upon literary tastes in the United States more than any other book, excluding the Bible.
It is estimated that at least 120 million copies of McGuffey's Readers were sold between 1836 and 1960, placing its sales in a category with the Bible and Webster's Dictionary. Since 1961 they have continued to sell at a rate of some 30,000 copies a year. No other textbook bearing a single person's name has come close to that mark. McGuffey's Readers are still in use today in some school systems, and by parents for home schooling purposes.
In the sixth and final reader of 1885, there were 186 selections, 111 great authors were quoted such as Shakespeare, Longfellow, Dickens and Addison. The theme of the selections included several forms of composition, description, narration, argumentation and exposition. In this book there were also seventeen selections from the Bible.

LESSON 1 ANECDOTE OF THE DUKE OF NEWCASTLE
LESSON 2 THE NEEDLE
LESSON 3 DAWN
LESSON 4 DESCRIPTION OF A STORM
LESSON 5 AFTER THE THUNDERSTORM
LESSON 6 HOUSE CLEANING
LESSON 7 SCHEMES OF LIFE OFTEN ILLUSORY
LESSON 8 THE BRAVE OLD OAK
LESSON 9 THE ARTIST SURPRISED
LESSON 10 PICTURES OF MEMORY
LESSON 11 THE MORNING ORATORIO
LESSON 12 SHORT SELECTIONS IN POETRY
LESSON 13 DEATH OF LITTLE NELL
LESSON 14 VANITY OF LIFE
LESSON 15 A POLITICAL PAUSE
LESSON 16 MY EXPERIENCE IN ELOCUTION
LESSON 17 ELEGY IN A COUNTRY CHURCHYARD
LESSON 18 TACT AND TALENT
LESSON 19 SPEECH BEFORE THE VIRGINIA CONVENTION
LESSON 20 THE AMERICAN FLAG
LESSON 21 IRONICAL EULOGY ON DEBT
LESSON 22 THE THREE WARNINGS
LESSON 23 THE MEMORY OF OUR FATHERS
LESSON 24 SHORT SELECTIONS IN PROSE
LESSON 25 THE JOLLY OLD PEDAGOGUE
LESSON 26 THE TEACHER AND SICK SCHOLAR
LESSON 27 THE SNOW SHOWER
LESSON 28 CHARACTER OF NAPOLEON BONAPARTE
LESSON 29 NAPOLEON AT REST
LESSON 30 WAR
LESSON 31 SPEECH OF WALPOLE IN REPROOF OF MR. PITT
LESSON 32 PITT’S REPLY TO SIR ROBERT WALPOLE
LESSON 33 CHARACTER OF MR. PITT
LESSON 34 THE SOLDIER’S REST
LESSON 35 HENRY V. TO HIS TROOPS
LESSON 36 SPEECH OF PAUL ON MARS HILL
LESSON 37 GOD IS EVERYWHERE
LESSON 38 LAFAYETTE AND ROBERT RAIKES
LESSON 39 FALL OF CARDINAL WOLSEY
LESSON 40 THE PHILOSOPHER
LESSON 41 MARMION AND DOUGLAS
LESSON 42 THE PRESENT
LESSON 43 THE BAPTISM
LESSON 44 SPARROWS
LESSON 45 OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH
LESSON 46 GOD’S GOODNESS TO SUCH AS FEAR HIM
LESSON 47 CHARACTER OF COLUMBUS
LESSON 48 “HE GIVETH HIS BELOVED SLEEP”
LESSON 49 DESCRIPTION OF A SIEGE
LESSON 50 MARCO BOZZARIS
LESSON 51 SONG OF THE GREEK BARD
LESSON 52 NORTH AMERICAN INDIANS
LESSON 53 LOCHIEL’S WARNING
LESSON 54 ON HAPPINESS OF TEMPER
LESSON 55 THE FORTUNE TELLER
LESSON 56 RIENZI’S ADDRESS TO THE ROMANS
LESSON 57 CHARACTER OF THE PURITAN FATHERS OFNEW ENGLAND
LESSON 58 LANDING OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS
LESSON 59 NECESSITY OF EDUCATION
LESSON 60 RIDING ON A SNOWPLOW
LESSON 61 THE QUARREL OF BRUTUS AND CASSIUS
LESSON 62 THE QUACK
LESSON 63 RIP VAN WINKLE
LESSON 64 BILL AND JOE
LESSON 65 SORROW FOR THE DEAD
LESSON 66 THE EAGLE
LESSON 67 POLITICAL TOLERATION
LESSON 68 WHAT CONSTITUTES A STATE?
LESSON 69 THE BRAVE AT HOME
LESSON 70 SOUTH CAROLINA
LESSON 71 MASSACHUSETTS AND SOUTH CAROLINA
LESSON 72 THE CHURCH SCENE FROM EVANGELINE
LESSON 73 SONG OF THE SHIRT
LESSON 74 DIAMOND CUT DIAMOND
LESSON 75 THANATOPSIS
LESSON 76 INDIAN JUGGLERS
LESSON 77 ANTONY OVER CAESAR’S DEAD BODY
LESSON 78 THE ENGLISH CHARACTER
LESSON 79 THE SONG OF THE POTTER
LESSON 80 A HOT DAY IN NEW YORK
LESSON 81 DISCONTENT.―AN ALLEGORY
LESSON 82 JUPITER AND TEN
LESSON 83 SCENE FROM “THE POOR GENTLEMAN”
LESSON 84 MY MOTHER’S PICTURE
LESSON 85 DEATH OF SAMSON
LESSON 86 AN EVENING ADVENTURE
LESSON 87 THE BAREFOOT BOY
LESSON 88 THE GLOVE AND THE LIONS
LESSON 89 THE FOLLY OF INTOXICATION
LESSON 90 STARVED ROCK
LESSON 91 PRINCE HENRY AND FALSTAFF
LESSON 92 STUDIES
LESSON 93 SURRENDER OF GRANADA
LESSON 94 HAMLET’S SOLILOQUY
LESSON 95 GINEVRA
LESSON 96 INVENTIONS AND DISCOVERIES
LESSON 97 ENOCH ARDEN AT THE WINDOW
LESSON 98 LOCHINVAR
LESSON 99 SPEECH ON THE TRIAL OF A MURDERER
LESSON 100 THE CLOSING YEAR
LESSON 101 A NEW CITY IN COLORADO
LESSON 102 IMPORTANCE OF THE UNION
LESSON 103 THE INFLUENCES OF THE SUN
LESSON 104 COLLOQUIAL POWERS OF FRANKLIN
LESSON 105 THE DREAM OF CLARENCE
LESSON 106 HOMEWARD BOUND
LESSON 107 IMPEACHMENT OF WARREN HASTINGS
LESSON 108 DESTRUCTION OF THE CARNATIC
LESSON 109 THE RAVEN
LESSON 110 A VIEW OF THE COLOSSEUM
LESSON 111 THE BRIDGE
LESSON 112 OBJECTS AND LIMITS OF SCIENCE
LESSON 113 THE DOWNFALL OF POLAND