Hornbooks were hand-held devices used to teach children how to read. They were usually made of wood with a handle at the bottom and a piece of paper or parchment printed with the alphabet, creed, and Lord's Prayer stuck on the front and laminated with horn. A child would then be able to hold the hornbook whilst moving around. This would be the first stage in learning to read and in how to become a good Christian. Education at home and at school was entwined with the Protestant Church. Middling children attending free schools, grammar schools and learning at home would learn their letters whilst making their way through texts like primers, catechisms and the Bible.<br /> <br /> Children learned Christian doctrine through their education in reading. But they also acquired knowledge of the faith through wider domestic and church devotional activities like praying, listening to sermons and wall-paintings, as well as through the instillation of gendered moral values. The portability and durability of the horn book was suitable for the little hands of younger children, rather than a book to be read while sat still at a desk.
Hornbook (Hornbook with Lord’s Prayer), 1630

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Hornbook

Hornbook (Hornbook with Lord’s Prayer), 1630

Hornbooks were hand-held devices used to teach children how to read. They were usually made of wood with a handle at the bottom and a piece of paper or parchment printed with the alphabet, creed, and Lord's Prayer stuck on the front and laminated with horn. A child would then be able to hold the hornbook whilst moving around. This would be the first stage in learning to read and in how to become a good Christian. Education at home and at school was entwined with the Protestant Church. Middling children attending free schools, grammar schools and learning at home would learn their letters whilst making their way through texts like primers, catechisms and the Bible.

Children learned Christian doctrine through their education in reading. But they also acquired knowledge of the faith through wider domestic and church devotional activities like praying, listening to sermons and wall-paintings, as well as through the instillation of gendered moral values. The portability and durability of the horn book was suitable for the little hands of younger children, rather than a book to be read while sat still at a desk.

Object Type Hornbook with Lord’s Prayer
Year 1630
Material Wood and paper/parchment
Owned By Folger Shakespeare Library STC 21.7
Keywords Looking; reading; hearing; praying; belief; education; childhood; memory; literacy; wood; tool
Image Credit Hornbook (1630), Folger STC 21.7. Used by permission of the Folger Shakespeare Library under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

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