Table of Contents
What is a hornbook in colonial times?
hornbook, form of children’s primer common in both England and America from the late 16th to the late 18th century. A sheet containing the letters of the alphabet was mounted on a wooden frame and protected with thin, transparent plates of horn.
What was a hornbook and what was it used for?
The hornbook originated in England and served the function of teaching children to read, learn math or to receive religious instruction. Hornbooks are somewhat like the more modern idea of a primer. See “The New England Primer” in Books that Shaped America for a good example of what a primer looks like.
What is the definition of a hornbook?
Definition of hornbook 1 : a child’s primer consisting of a sheet of parchment or paper protected by a sheet of transparent horn. 2 : a rudimentary treatise.
What did the Hornbook contain?
Hornbooks contained the alphabet in capital and small letters, followed by combinations of vowels with consonants to form syllables, the Lord’s Prayer, and Roman numerals.
Why was this referred to as a hornbook?
Back in the sixteenth century, English monks began to make hornbooks to help their pupils learn to read. Usually a wooden paddle with an alphabet and a verse glued to the surface, hornbooks derived their name from the piece of transparent horn protecting the verse.
What features were typically included in a hornbook?
Letters, numbers and even Bible verses were often written on the parchment with ink and quill. The parchment was glued to the board, and a thin layer of horn was placed over the top with wooden pegs or tiny forged nails.
When was the first hornbook printed?
The hornbook was in common use in England around 1450, but may originate from more than a century earlier.
How was the Hornbook made?
A hornbook was a wooden plank with a short handle. Most were paddle-shaped and carved with the ABCs and numbers from zero to nine. More elaborate ones had a sheet of parchment paper glued to one surface, but it was not written on like paper.
Did the New England colonies use hornbooks to teach children to read?
So much for the indirect evidence to show that the hornbook was the method of teaching children to read in the colonial days of New England. The first actual mention which we have of a horn- book in colonial records is this bill which Charles Lidgett made out for cash paid to his wife in 1078.
What is the history of the hornbook in America?
In treating of the history and use of the hornbook in America, it is necessary first to study the history of the hornbook in the old world. The hornbook, in point of fact is not a book at all. Originally it was a piece of board with a handle shaped like the battledore in the old game of battledore and shuttle- cock.
Where can I find a single hornbook?
There are several single specimens of hornbooks in private libraries in America, including those of the following gentlemen: Mr. J. P. Morgan, Mr. W. O. Field, and Mr. Alviii Krech of New York, and Mr. Frank B. Gay of Hartford. These are all English hornbooks.