1785-90 Beardsley Limner possibly Sarah Bushnell Perkins (American artist, 1771-1831) Mrs Hezekiah Beardsley reading to her dog?
Following the English practice as noted by Francis Bacon, children were taught to read through the “ordinary road of Hornbook, Primer, Psalter, Testament, & Bible.” These & other instructional reading texts were frequently imported & then reprinted in the colonies.