Numero oggetto
52/344
Descrizione
This horn book was found in an attic of Great Folly Farm, in Leigh on Sea, Essex, when the fifteenth-century building was demolished. The attic had been sealed off for a long time, probably since about 1800. At the time of discovery it was suggested that the attic room might have at one time been a child's bedroom. However, it seems more likely that the book was deliberately deposited in the attic as an apotropaic device to protect the home. The horn book is made of oak. It is covered with conventional brick-dust coloured paper. There is very little horn left, just a thin strip remains underneath parts of the brass strip.
Descrizione fisica
1 horn - book: wood (oak); brick-dust paper; horn; brass
Storico archivio
MERL 'Catalogue index' card – ‘… // DATE ACQUIRED: // GROUP: // NEGATIVE: // PERIOD: // PLACE OF ORIGIN: // NUMBER: // DESCRIPTION: True hornbooks with horn faces were probably used as early as 1450 but not until the close of the 16th Century were they common. By the end of the 18th Century the demand for hornbooks had practically ceased altogether. Tablets of a similar nature and purpose had of course been used for many centuries before this. // Hornbooks were peculiar to England and N America but they were manufactured to a large extent in Holland and later in France and Italy as well as England. A fescue or pointer was used in conjunction with the hornbook. The child or teacher held the hornbook and the child had to read the letters pointed out. Some hornbooks showed the alphabet only but others included other things particularly the Lord's Prayer. Early hornbooks were written, not printed, and some did not have handles. These were used to learn writing and were therefore more stationary. // The cross at the beginning of the alphabet was called Christ's Cross or the criss-cross and that row of letters the Chris-cross-row. The whole alphabet came to be known by many as the Christ-cross-row, lane or line, or cross row, there were many variations on this name. // A hornbook is made of a thin piece of oak cut into a oblong with a short handle coming out of one end. Over this, leather (particularly in early specimens) was glued and a pattern impresses on the back and handle by a heated brass block. Sometimes paper was used instead of leather and sometimes the oak was not covered at all. The printed sheet was also glued on one side, horn laid over it and thin strips of brass were laid round the edge, these were fastened on by 8, or occasionally more, rose head tacks. The rose head tack is one with four facets, made by hand, these were replaced in about 1820 by cheaper machine made flat headed tacks. // It is not possible to date hornbooks accurately. Cast leaden and engraved ivory tablets were also used and hornbooks have been backed by iron and silver on occasion. // Children often wore their horn-books dangling from a string tied to their waists, or round their necks. These horn-books always had a hole in them for the string to pass through. In the early 19th century when a few horn-books were still being made, card was often used instead of wood, horn was often dispensed with by the use of varnish. The type altered also and the cross at the beginning of the alphabet which had steadily been losing its religious significance was replaced by an X. // [reverse:] It is made of oak with a handle coming from the bottom, rectangular in shape with its corners clipped off. It is covered with the conventional brick-dust coloured paper. This has been stamped on the back, but the impression is no longer whole nor clear. It involves several whirls and a small five petalled 'flower' on the left near the top. It does not seem to depict St. George and the dragon a fairly common scene. There is very little horn left, just a thin strip remains underneath parts of the brass. The brass strip remains only on the bottom and right side. The printed sheet is bordered with a pattern which is obscured (as was very common) on the right by the brass, but it shows on the other sides. A cross precedes a capital 'A' and the alphabet in small Roman letters, this includes the 'f' shaped 's' and is followed by and 'and' sign - & - and the vowels and then the alphabet in capitals. Below this the invocation of the Holy Trinity follows and the Lord's prayer comes last. This sheet has been badly nibbled by mice. It is difficult to tell whether the 8 tacks are rose headed because of corrosion but they look as if they might have been. The hornbook measures 3.5 inches by 2.2 inches, the handled is .8 inches long by .75 inches wide in addition to this, giving a total length of 4.3 inches. It is .15 inches thick. This is typical of the later horn-books. // Bibliography // Andrew W. Tuer 'History of the Horn-book' 2nd Ed. 1897 // Leadenhall Press.'
Data
1725 - 1800
Nome oggetto
Materiale
