author

Dorothy Crain

An early 20th-century writer on codes and cipher teaching, known today for a curious and uncommon book that blends education with cryptography. Her surviving work offers a glimpse into a moment when secret writing was being turned into classroom material for young readers.

1 Audiobook

Ciphers for the little folks : $b A method of teaching the greatest work of Sir Francis Bacon, baron of Verulam, viscount St. Albans

Ciphers for the little folks : $b A method of teaching the greatest work of Sir Francis Bacon, baron of Verulam, viscount St. Albans

by Dorothy Crain

About the author

Dorothy Crain is known from the 1916 book Ciphers for the Little Folks, published by the Educational Department of Riverbank Laboratories in Geneva, Illinois. The book was written with contributions from Helen Louise Ricketts and presents cipher study in a form meant for younger learners.

The surviving public record on Crain appears to be quite slim, and widely available sources mainly preserve her through this book rather than through a detailed personal biography. Library and ebook records consistently connect her name with Ciphers for the Little Folks, and some catalog listings also identify it as part of the "Dorothy Crain series."

That makes her an intriguing figure for modern readers: an author who remains somewhat elusive, yet whose work still stands as a small historical artifact from the early popular teaching of codes and secret writing. For anyone interested in the history of puzzles, education, or cryptography, her book is the reason her name has lasted.