Horn-Book

an old style English primer. It consisted of a sheet of paper or vellum pasted on a panel of wood and covered with transparent horn to prevent wear. The wooden frame was provided usually with a handle and was held like a hand mirror. When not in use it was hung by a ring from the child's girdle. The contents of the horn-book designed to instruct the infant reader showed first of all a large cross; then followed the alphabet in large and small letters. The vowels were printed in a line by themselves. Their combinations with the consonants, as b a, ba; b e, be; b i, bi; were given in a tabular form. A safeguard against evil spirits ran "In the name of the Father, and of the Sonne, and of the Holy Ghost." It was followed by the Lord's Prayer. Lastly came the Roman numerals. The writers of the Elizabethan Age, Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, and others, allude to the horn-book. Though each child in a dame school formerly had a horn-book, specimens are now exceedingly rare and are among the choicest treasures of the museums.