Illustrated rhyming books were popular in the late 19^th century, as were alphabet books that paired letters with words and verse—a tradition that continues to this day in the work of Lois Ehlert, Chris Van Allsburg, and, most recently, Steve Martin and Roz Chast. In this 1890 illustration from Caroline Ketcham Easton's Illustrated Alphabet for Little Folks, the author reinforced the patrician values that she must have held dear. In just four letters on the page, Eaton manages to primly promote the virtues of yachting, rowing, horseback riding, and attending college at "Old Yale" ("to which all good fellows should go without fail"). This book was never published, possibly because the illustrations are fairly misleading: Varsity looks more like a factory; Waterwitch and Xipias (which means "swordfish") both depict boats; and zebra is somehow a stripeless horse wearing a saddle.