A hornbook was a teaching device for beginning readers.
It was made of a rectangular piece of wood with a handle to which was attached
a piece of paper or parchment with the alphabet, the Lord’s Prayer, Roman
numerals, and letter combinations. Over
the paper or parchment, a clear piece of horn was laid to cover and protect
it. Often, there was a hole in the
handle of the hornbook, through which a cord or strip of leather was passed so
that the student could attach the hornbook to a belt or wear it around the
neck. Hornbooks were used as early as
1442, becoming popular in the 1500s until the 1700s when paper became cheaper
to manufacture, and they were gradually replaced by cardboard folders with
illustrations accompanying the text of the lessons. Like early school books of all types,
hornbooks are rare now, because they were generally used until they fell
apart.
***Hornbook Image from the Children's Literature Special Collection at the University of Missouri
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