Hornbook

The hornbook made its first appearance around the middle of the 1400s, and rapidly became a popular teaching and instructional aid for children, who used them to help remember their basic ABCs. The 'book' is actually a parchment or paper fixed to a thin wooden with a short handle. Sometime ivory was used instead of wood. The information is presented in a formulaic fashion, starting with the alphabet, nine digits, the Lord's Prayer and sometimes a syllabary (a list of characters representing syllables). The text is protected by a thin translucent sheet of horn, which is held in place by a frame of riveted copper strips. The horn on this example has gone dark with age. The back of the board is often decorated.