Democratic Sentinel, Volume 20, Number 30, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 31 July 1896 — HISTORY OF THE A, B, C. [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

HISTORY OF THE A, B, C.

Tho Horn Book Wti the First Alpha* •< bet Card, inn •»<«; •: The horn book, which wart tho 'flHt alphabet card, is described by, a recent truthor os “a board Of oak about nine Inches long, and five or six wide, on which was printed the alphabet, the nine digits and sometimes the Lord's prayer. It had a handle and was covered in front with a sheath of thin ’torn to prevent its being soiled, and the backboard was ornamented with a rude sketch of St. George and the Dragan.” This'board and its horn cover were held together by a narrow frame or border of brass. The oldest horn books were undoubt* cdly frequently used In the schools and common-rooms of the great monasteries. In the earliest specimens the let-

ters are arranged in the form of a Latini cross, with the A at the top and Z at the vottbidr 4 ' _ . !L1 —U The people who go to hell ought to hpve wiags so t£ey,would have some- . thtog to brush the hearths with. ... I ,

AN OLD HORN BOOK.