Horace W. Shaylor Sr. of Portland wrote the primary course, numbers and grammar course in the 1885 Harper's New Graded Copy Books.

The books were designed for students to practice their penmanship. At the top of a page is a word or sentence; below are be blank lines for the student to copy the above script.

Shaylor, a native of Ohio, moved to Portland in 1861 and began a system for teaching penmanship. He also was an artist.