Gift
of
Brian
and Darlene Heidtke
A
Silver Alphabet
Hornbook
Prior
to the eighteenth
century, the notion
that children were
anything other than
small versions of
adults was a foreign
concept. Books designed
for small hands
and young minds
are a relatively
recent innovation.
Early children's
literature was often
didactic, full of
worldly lessons
and moral stricture.
But the means of
introducing children
to the world of
letters and words
prompted fascinating
objects. The hornbook
was developed as
the device to drill
young students in
the alphabet. Often
a small handheld
wooden piece with
printed or incised
with letters and
numbers cover by
a transparent sheet
of horn, the hornbook
served as a young
child's aid in memorizing
the ABC's. This
luxurious example
of a child's simple
learning tool, is
a silver sheet incised
with the alphabet,
complete with all
twenty-six letters
and two diphthongs
(both upper and
lower case) and
ten numerals. The
extravagant use
of silver, the ivory
frame, and the floral
decoration suggest
that this was the
property of a well-placed
child.
