Object Details
- Description
- Hornbooks were used in the 17th and 18th centuries to teach basic reading and prayer to the young child. They were usually a child's first reading material. The lesson on the hornbook begins with the symbol of the cross followed by letters of the alphabet, vowel and letter combinations for sounding out syllables, and ends with the Lord's Prayer. A child would begin the lesson with a prayer or benediction with the teacher and read or recite the hornbook out loud. Once mastered, the child would then move on to a primer. Hornbooks were very small; this one is only a little over 4 inches. A thin piece of transparent horn protectively covers the printed paper which is fastened to a piece of wood in the shape of a butter paddle. Often a leather thong is tied to the handle to prevent the child from losing the hornbook. Most hornbooks were imported and many had decorative backs or gilding.
- Location
- Currently not on view
- 1700-1799
- ID Number
- CL.64.0764
- catalog number
- 64.764
- accession number
- 253339
- Object Name
- horn book
- hornbook
- Measurements
- overall: 4 1/8 in x 2 1/4 in; 10.4775 cm x 5.715 cm
- See more items in
- Home and Community Life: Education
- Cultures & Communities
- National Museum of American History
- used
- Education
- Record ID
- nmah_1320130
- GUID (Link to Original Record)
- https://n2t.net/ark:/65665/ng49ca746ac-06b9-704b-e053-15f76fa0b4fa
