Book excerpt: In contrast to the prevailing view, this book reveals the educational revolution" of the 1500s to have grown from an earlier expansion of elementary and grammar education in the fourteenth, fifteenth, and early sixteenth centuries. Originally published in 1985. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.