Readers from the 1857 edition, and distributed
complete sets of them,
at his own expense, to schools across the United States.
McGuffey's Readers contain many derogatory references to ethnic and religious minorities. For example, Native Americans are referred to as "savages. There are those who regard the references in the book to the Jews and Judaism as anti-Semitic.
For instance, in Neil Baldwins
Henry Ford and the Jews, the author makes the case that Henry Ford's self- avowed anti-Semitism originated with his study of McGuffey's as a schoolboy. Baldwin cites numerous antisemitic references to Shylock and to Jews attacking Jesus and Paul. He also quotes the Fourth Reader to the effect that "Jewish authors were incapable of the diction and strangers to the morality contained in the gospel" The readers further characterize Jews as "Christ killers" and labels their reverence of the Old Testament as "superstitious" and teach that Jews have been rejected by God for being "unfaithful" You may download text versions of the McGuffy's Reader from the following website http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14640
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