The hoosier school-master was written and printed in the autumn of 1871. It is therefore now about twenty-one years old, and the publishers propose to mark its coming of age by issuing a li braty edition. I avail myself of the occasion to make some needed revisions, and to preface the new edition with an account of the origin and ad ventures of the book. If I should Seem to betray unbecoming pride in speaking of a story that has passed into several languages and maintained an undiminished popularity for more than a Score of years, I count on receiving the indulgence com monly granted to paternal vanity when cele brating the majority of a first-born. With all its faults on its head, this little tale has become a clas sic, in the bookseller's sense at least; and a public that has Shown so constant a partiality for it has a right to feel some curiosity regarding its history.