Primer is the first textbook that a child meets in elementary school. The process of mastering initial reading and writing is extremely important for the students future education and life. This paper talks about primer and explains its concept and form. Also it presents elements that confirm its significant role in school practice. The paper focuses on linguistic characteristics research based on specific primers of 19. and 20. century. Those primers were analyzed and their features are comparable to modern primers: purpose, pre-exercises, lines, methods of reading and writing lessons, order and slope of letters, orthography, text in primers, illustration material as well as other observations. The research was carried out using the documentation study method and original documents were used in the analysis. The results show different approaches to initial reading and writing as well as the development of methodical elements over time.