spelling

     A long time ago--a couple of hundred years ago, that is--spelling was not standardized. You were considered a good speller if other people could read what you had written. You were considered a poor speller if other people could not understand what you had written
     Then along came Noah Webster and his dictionary--at about the same time that the general idea of standardized spelling became popular. Now we are all expected to spell the same words in the same way. The only modern exception is an author attempting to render an accent of some kind into written words. This can be very annoying to try to read when you are used to standardized spelling. In most instances, if the author is trying to render your own accent, you never think he or she got it quite right. If the author is trying to render an accent with which you are not familiar, it usually doesn't help, and may make his or her writing indecipherable.
     Many books that were written before standardized spelling became the norm are now printed with modernized spelling. Some books and other works are left the way they were originally written--no one likes the idea of changing them--for instance, Shakespeare, or the King James translation of the Bible. People are used to the old-fashioned spelling, and often think it is interesting to read something that is printed this way.  Shakespeare was not a poor speller--neither were the people who worked on the King James version of the Bible. Being able to read these as they were originally written is like being able to travel through time--to visit the society of four hundred years ago.
     Other old-fashioned documents, like the US Constitution or the British Magna Carta, probably have to be left with their original spelling--since they are legal documents, and it would not be right to alter them except by a constitutional amendment. 
     Enjoy reading old things, if you can--they are very rewarding--but don't learn to spell from them.