Late Sixteenth Century Leather Hornbook
A unique leather hornbook, incorporating material from a recycled 17th century bookbinding.
Very good.
Price: $3,750.00
Late Sixteenth Century Leather Hornbook
"Of all chiefe learning, literature and Art,/ The Horn-booke is the ground, which doth imparte/ A world of Science; and great Art and skill/ Comes from the Horn-booke, be it good, or ill." — William Hornbye (as quoted in Tuer)
This large leather hornbook is a beautiful and extremely rare survival despite its missing text. These paddle-like books were used in English-speaking countries to teach young children early literacy skills. Often made of wood, the term "hornbook" comes from the thin protective sheet of horn mounted over a printed page containing the alphabet and/or other short reading exercises. The full-leather style of this example makes it quite special. Although hornbooks made of leather-covered wood are attested in literature on the topic, this particular hornbook is apparently made of three layers of leather stitched together; it also features a rear panel apparently taken from a scrapped 17th century English calf bookbinding.
Hornbooks of any kind were not particularly long-lived: Andrew Tuer describes how hornbooks were used, abused, and treated as ephemeral in general. When they fell out of fashion in the 19th century, hornbooks were disposed of in the hundreds; Tuer observes that "When a thing valueless in itself has served its turn, man seem to vie with each other in destroying all trace of its existence." A scarce testament to an important aspect of educational history.
Read more: Andrew Tuer, History of the Horn-Book, 1897.
The Object
[England]: n.p, [circa early 17th century]. 12.25'' x 6.25'' including handle. Contemporary leather and calf with horn window to front and elaborate gold-tooled floral diamond with male and female figures to rear. Numbers painted in red to edges of rear. Extremely faint initials to rear, perhaps "C D." Horn window broken into several pieces with one small piece lacking; text also lacking. Some crazing to handle; corner of leather edge decoration perished. Housed in a custom velvet-lined box.
The Fine Print
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