HoB_ABCs

Title Hornbook C. 1800B

Brief description

Full description The early nineteenth century hornbook has not changed much compared to its predecessors. Children handled this paddle-shaped tool to become more familiar with the shape and style of the alphabet, with J and U omitted. In Tudor times, J was the same as I, and U was the same letter as V. Although this hornbook is circa 1800, there is still a noticeable discrepancy between the 24 and 26 letter alphabet. While other hornbooks in this century also included additional information, such as capital and lowercase letters, the "Our Father" prayer and perhaps even a small chart to explain vowels, this particular hornbook serves only to compel the child to become familiar with 24 capital letters of the alphabet. The entire hornbook appears to be made of two thick layers of leather that has been stitched together to hold the horn and paper. The leather is in decent condition considering its age. There is some damage to the top, right corner of the front. The top layer of the leather has been broken off here. The hornbook was made by hand, as demonstrated in the crooked cut of the leather and the craftsmanship of the stitching. The handwritten letters show a bit of penmanship, even though the writer appears to have made a few small mistakes, like the inkblot on the P. The horn itself is very dirty, probably from age. A very thick, hard horn layer has been employed to protect the writing underneath. The edges are particularly dirty with black all around the horn near the leather. It is a dark yellowish color. The handle is very well-worn. There is a bit of damage on the front but most of the damage has occurred at the back of the handle. Much of the leather has all but been rubbed off. The handle also has a hole in the center for a cord to be attached. The handle is unique because it was made in the shape of a cross, as opposed to a more practical straight handle. In fact, the back of the entire item shows a lot of damage from use. The back of the hornbook is entirely black leather; with a reddish coloring from scratches and other injuries. The most damage occurs around the edges of the hornbook, between the thick thread from the sewing and the edge. It is very smooth in the center of the leather where it rested against a table or other flat surface.

Literacy The process of alphabetization in the 1800s was necessary for young individuals, and eventually societies, to become literate. With the internalization of the alphabet, the child can achieve the first steps to literacy without even becoming aware of this progress. In other words, the alphabet may become so familiar that the child may be able to look at the written alphabet and know it without explicitly reading each letter. Only secondly does it become recognized as text. Yet while the alphabet-all-at-once appears to represent literacy, it is not true literacy. Literacy requires a process of breaking down and reconfiguring the letters into sounds and words that make sense. As alphabetic letters are the most basic components of a word, so is the child's internalization of the alphabet etched onto the manuscript of the hornbook as the first step towards achieving literacy.

Childhood The hornbook itself hardly gives a suggestion of a specific child as its target reader. While often designed for personal use for a certain child or children, the item says little about the user. It is a basic tool that appears to be useful to very young children learning their letters for the first time before they attend any kind of schooling. It is meant to be an early tool that allows children to bridge the gap between written and oral letters at a young age. At this time, hornbooks, along with the New England Primer, were the only domestically produced books that educated colonial New England children on their letters. Unlike the Primer, however, hornbooks demonstrate a more personal care toward the learning of children. These hornbooks are handmade from wood, leather, and horn. The letters are carefully inscribed by hand before the maker took great pains to protect the manuscript. The item is meant to be durable to withstand a child's handling and convenient to encourage internalization of the alphabet in early childhood. What is more interesting about this example is what is actually missing from this hornbook. The example here does not include the Lord's Prayer which indicates an unusual separation of letters and religion, perhaps even a paradigm shift away from learning letters for the sole purpose of reading religious texts